Doctor Who episode Lucky Day features nod to a classic Tom Baker story you might have missed
Have we seen Conrad Clark's organisation before?
*Warning - contains major spoilers for Doctor Who episode Lucky Day*
As Doctor Who fans were left reeling following the reveal that Ruby Sunday's boyfriend Conrad was actually an anti-UNIT activist who had been manipulating her, they may have missed a major call-back to a classic story.
As Jonah Hauer-King's Conrad outlined his true intentions in Lucky Day, he revealed he was the leader of Think Tank - an organisation whose name we've heard before.
In fact, an organisation of the same name, which also went by the moniker The National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research, first appeared in the 1974/75 Fourth Doctor story Robot.
In that episode, Think Tank was seen using a robot to steal the destructor codes for the US, China and Russia's stockpile of nuclear weapons, and planned to start a nuclear war if the world didn't agree to its terms.
It's not clear whether the organisations are the same or, as some fans have suggested, whether the new version has taken on the name of a classic UNIT enemy to provoke them.
Whatever the case, the repeated name is certainly intentional. As Conrad reveals his shirt bearing the Think Tank logo in Lucky Day, a musical score plays which is remarkably similar to one used for Think Tank's appearance in Robot.
While the end of Lucky Day saw Conrad humiliated, arrested and confronted by the Doctor, this might not be the last we see of him and of Think Tank. The final moments of the episode saw him being freed by the villainous Mrs Flood – to what end is yet to be seen.
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Next week's episode of Doctor Who, The Story and the Engine, will see the Doctor and Belinda travel to Lagos, where the mysterious Barber reigns supreme.
The synopsis for the episode teases: "The Doctor discovers a world where stories have power, but can he stop the Spider and its deadly web of revenge?"
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Doctor Who continues on Saturday 10th May, with the next episode becoming available from 8am on BBC iPlayer in the UK and airing at 7:10pm on BBC One. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
