Sally Brandom (Justin's mother)

Justin Brandom

Derek Brandom (mentioned only, deceased)

Sapphire

Russell Brandom

Miranda "Miri" Knight

Ruby

Jason Knight

Steel

George Dixon (mentioned only, deceased)

President Emma Godwin

Didja Notice?

When Miri sees the suddenly returned Russell, she exclaims he's supposed to be in the terrorist detention center on Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz Island is a small island in San Francisco Bay, home of the now-closed Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary from 1934-1963.

This episode reveals the name of Sally's second-hand book store is Bookends.

Sally calls the cottage she lived in in Lyme Regis as very twee. "Twee" is a British term for "quaint".

At 8:26 in the episode, Sally mentions Marmite.

Sally tells Sapphire that she watched her son die on BBC1.

Sapphire's quote to Steel at 12:04 in the episode, "That scares you, doesn't it, Steel..?" is a flashback to "Cruel Immortality" Part 3.

At 14:59 in the episode, Russell asks his brother, "Who do you think I am, Superman?" Superman, of course, is a flying superhero character appearing in titles published by DC Comics.

Russell remarks that his father used to smell like Old Spice.

The mall Sapphire and Steel are trapped in has a store called Mirror World, selling mirrors. This is a fictitious business.

Steel tells Sapphire the nuclear bomb in San Francisco exploded on September 13, 2004. The "September 13" date may be an homage. In the 1975-1977 TV series Space: 1999, an explosion in a nuclear waste dump on the Moon hurled the Moon out of its orbit and through space on September 13, 1999.

Justin explains to Sapphire and Steel that there was so much fear of terrorism that the U.S. bombed Canary Wharf on February 14, 2003. Canary Wharf is a major business district in London.

Steel seems to state that the book The Other Side of the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke does not exist in his and Sapphire's reality.

Memorable Dialog

alternative universes.mp3