A Steely touch in yesterday’s episode of Endeavour which centred on dodgy goings on in Cowley General Hospital. In the opening sequence it became clear that we were listening to The Nightfly on Cowley Hospital Radio. The DJ then signed off as “Lester Fagen”
Well it made me chuckle. Please yourselves
In an episode of ‘Sherlock’, a keen-eyed viewer (or slow-mo replayer) noticed that there was a letter from ‘Torchwood’ in 221b’s letter rack.
Oh god really? That only adds to the shit sandwich that the last episode served up.
The petty detail that I noticed was in the opening credits of Sherlock. The footage of Piccadilly Circus showed a massive Sanyo ad, a brand which ceased to exist in April 2012 and Panasonic, who took them over, were ruthless in ensuring it vanished as quickly as possible.
Told you it was petty.
I feel your pain. A documentary on – say – the Battle of Britain might typically start well, with 1940 film of Spitfires scrambling, but then randomly throws in film taken years later, with US aircraft, aircraft carriers in the Pacific, etc, all the while talking about 1940.
Aardman are masters at this kind of thing as are many of the makers of modern kids’ films. Small visual or musical jokes that dropped in as a treat for the older members of the audience. The trick is to be as light-handed as possible so that one almost doesn’t notice them.
And both Balamory and Horrible Histories. The PC Plum song apes the Bo Rap vid, and it made me laugh like a drain (to the bemusement of my then-toddlers). HH have so many in-jokes for parents that I’ve lost count.
Think I learnt more from the Horrible Histories episode on WW1 than I did from hours of Paxman poncing about in France
Indeed. HH have inspired the daughter to study History GCSE.
Hang on, isn’t Endeavour set in the 60s, some 15 years before the release of The Nightfly?
Yes but The Nightfly is set in 1958 (IGY), so the dj might still be around in that Universe having bumped down from Baton Rouge to Oxford.
Sorry, should have explained that better. The Hospital Radio show was called The Nightfly. He wasn’t playing Donald Fagen’s CD
A lot of the Horrible Histories’ vids have been removed from YouTube, but if you can find the Morrissey/Charles Dickens song, you’re in for a lovely treat.
The piece de resistance of the background detail genre is Police Squad. Only six episodes ever made and each one priceless to the keen of eye.