The Shakespeare Code it is one of his own from "Henry V", which was probably written in early 1599. When questioning Shakespeare about witches, Martha remarks that he has written about witches; a reference to "Macbeth", which Shakespeare denies. At the time in which the episode is set, Shakespeare had yet to write "Macbeth" or "Hamlet", which prominently feature the paranormal, such as witches and ghosts. There are numerous other allusions to Shakespeare's plays. Just before the Doctor steps out of the TARDIS, he exclaims "Brave new world", from Act V Scene I of "The Tempest". In an early scene a sign is
Toot Sweets of the French expression "tout de suite", meaning "at once" or "right away". During World War I British soldiers serving in France, most of whom could not speak French, adopted the phrase as "toot sweet" to mean "hurry up" or "look smart". In the context of the film and stage musical, "Toot Sweets" is about a piece of confectionery ("sweet" being the British term for confectionery) invented by the main character, Caractacus Potts, that has holes in it, making the sweet playable as an edible whistle. Unfortunately for Potts, the toot sweets act like dog whistles, calling all the local