James Bond movies - The series is parodied twice: in the scene where then Prime Minister Tony Blair greets the Simpsons, then blasts off on a jetpack à la Thunderball (the 007 theme plays); and in the scene where Homer spots Bart and Lisa from the London Eye, pulls a lever and the whole car detaches from the Eye, before skimming across the River Thames.
The Brady Bunch - The first act plot — where Bart happens upon a $1,000 bill and Marge subsequently tells him to advertise for its rightful owner — is inspired by the 1970 episode "The Treasure of Sierra Avenue."
British Newspapers - After Homer is arrested and sent to the Tower of London, British tabloid newspapers are seen with various headlines; centre-left tabloid The Mirror, centre-right broadsheet The Times, right-wing paper The Daily Mail and tabloid The Sun.
The Times and The Sun are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
All of the newspaper shots are complete with correct typefaces, except the Daily Mail.
One of the newspaper headlines post-trial read "Judge threatens to go medieval on Homer's ass.", referring to a line Marsellus uttered in the Quentin Tarantino film "Pulp Fiction."
The "Topless Homer on Page three" strapline in The Sun refers to the fact that, ever since The Sun was relaunched in 1968 as a popular tabloid, it has nearly always devoted Page three to a picture of a scantily-clad young lady. This feature was ended on January 23, 2015.
"The Cherry Orchard" — The play, written by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, is used as a sly dig at Joe Millionaire, where star Evan Marriott admits he does not have a cherry orchard, much like in the show where he admits he was not a millionaire.
"Harry Potter" - When J. K. Rowling is met by the family, Lisa tells her that she shows deep infatuation with the titular character. After asking what would be the ending of the series, Rowling sarcastically replies that the character will grow up and marry Lisa, which is exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Macbeth"curse — The old theater superstition is parodied when Sir Ian McKellen tells the Simpson family the name is bad luck. Homer says "You mean Macbeth?", to which a car splashes McKellen. Homer says Macbeth again, to which an anvil drops on McKellen's foot. McKellen accidentally says Macbeth, to which he is struck by lightning. Bart then deliberately says Macbeth, to which Marge and Lisa accidentally say it too. When Bart says good luck to McKellen, the sign advertising the play crushes McKellen.
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is also referenced in this back-and-forth, where the Simpsons keep saying "Macbeth" instead of "it" from the scene with the Knights Who Say Ni. McKellen's line "Now I've said it!" is similarly taken from the movie, where the head knight avoids using the word "it" until he accidentally lets it slip near the end.
New Zoo Revue — Homer's insistence that The Queen's real name is Henrietta R. Hippo (thanks to the monogram on the Her Royal Highness' night bag although the Queen is in real world "Her Majesty", not "Her Royal Highness") recalls the hippo character on the 1970s children's TV show.
National Lampoon's European Vacation — The scene where Homer endlessly circles the roundabout spoofs a similar scene in the 1985 movie, where Clark Griswold keeps driving around the roundabout adjacent to the eastern end of Lambeth Bridge.
Partridge Family 2200 A.D. — Bart's "Moon Party" sequence is likely a reference to the 1970s Saturday morning cartoon. Also appearing: Star Wars character R2-D2 (playing the bass).
Sir Walter Raleigh - The tunnel leading from the Tower of London to the Queen's bedroom in Buckingham Palace may be a reference to a rumour that Raleigh carried out an affair with the never-married Queen Elizabeth I. This could also be a reference to the Michael Fagan incident, where an unarmed man broke into the Palace and surprised Queen Elizabeth II in her bedroom.
Trainspotting — Bart and Lisa run through town on a sugar high as Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" plays in the background. When Bart and Lisa are running they go by the same route used by Ewan McGregor at the start of the film most notably as they go down the stairs (despite the stairs being in Edinburgh, not London). The scene ends with Maggie crawling across the ceiling of a lolly house and her head spins around like the baby in the withdrawal scene.
The scene between Lord Daftwager and his "lover" is a parody of the premise of the musical My Fair Lady.
Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs is mentioned by Homer when he questions the yellow card given to Giggs.
In complimenting his half-sister, Homer says "You make Dame Edna look like a dude". Dame Edna Everage is a famous character of male comedian Barry Humphries.
Homer sees Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page from the London Eye and calls him "one of the greatest thieves of American black music ever to walk the Earth," a reference to Led Zeppelin's frequent and frequently sued-over practice of "borrowing" of music, themes and lyrics from American blues music.
The line "Feel the drunken wrath of Chuck Shadowski" heard in the Hockey Dads game is a sly reference to "Big Chuck" Schodowski, a Cleveland TV personality most recently co-host of the Big Chuck and Lil' John show.
Trading Places - the two wealthy gentlemen who suggest a wager after meeting Bart and Lisa who are just coming down from their sugar high.
Dame Judi Dench - When the Simpsons are on the tour bus, they go to a restaurant called "Judi Dench's Fish and Chips," which resembles an older-style KFC restaurant but uses the yellow and blue colors of Long John Silver's (both KFC and Long John Silver's were owned by Yum! Brands at the time of this episode's original airdate). Dench is heard on the speakerphone beating up a worker at the restaurant.
Michael Fagan Incident - When Homer escapes The Tower of London through Sir Walter Raleigh's escape tunnel, he finds that it ends in the Queen's bedroom. The Queen is shocked to see him, and blows her personal emergency whistle. Two Grenadier Guards immediately arrive to apprehend Homer, while commenting what a good idea it was to give the Queen an emergency whistle this time.
Bart's shirt in "Museum of Modern Bart" says: "200th episode". This could be a reference to "Trash of the Titans", which actually is the 200th episode on The Simpsons.
The British version of the Squeaky-Voiced Teen states that the fish is now free of mad fish disease. This is in reference to mad cow disease which hit the cattle population of Britain in the 1990s, and ruined the beef industry.
Widget - The purple alien in Bart's Moon Mansion fantasy bears a strong resemblance to Widget the World Watcher.
Trivia/Goofs[]
In the promo scene (not shown in the finished product) Homer brags about being jailed in 6 continents and needs to kill a penguin to make it 7. That is not true. Homer has been imprisoned in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, but he was kidnapped in South America and lost in Africa.
Ironically, he encountered several penguins at Antarctica in "Simpson Tide" when surrounded by various maritime forces.
In the final part of the episode, Marge remarks that on vacations Homer usually ends up either imprisoned or kidnapped.
Mr. Burns' First Bank of Springfield password is 4-2-4-0.
Mr. Burns' ATM card bears both the MasterCard and VISA logos.
The Queen sentences Homer to death after he hit her carriage. However, in Britain, the death penalty was abolished in 1965 for most crimes, and in 1998 for treason.
Even if Homer was sentenced to death for treason, he would've been hung, not beheaded. The last person who was beheaded for treason at the Tower of London was Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat who was beheaded on the 9th April 1747, following his defeat at the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
When Homer crashes into the Queen's carriage, the license plate on the Mini Cooper reads "W777 YGB," which indicates the vehicle is a 2000 model. However, a real-life W-registered 2000 Mini Cooper is the old-style Mini Cooper and not the new-style Mini Cooper.
The new-style Mini Cooper wasn't introduced in the UK until February 2001; therefore, a new-style Mini Cooper would've bore registration plates with the "Y### AAA" format (for a Y-registered 2001 new-style Mini Cooper). On the 1st September 2001, all vehicle registration plates in the UK had changed to the current "AA## AAA" format, with vehicles first issued with registration plates bearing with the "AA51 AAA" format (for vehicles registered between the 1st September 2001 and the 28th February 2002) and then 02, 03 etc (for vehicles registered between the 1st March and the 31st August) and then 52, 53 etc (for vehicles registered between 1st September and the 28th/29th February of the following year).
The chocolate shop clerk claims that British candy is sweeter than what Bart and Lisa are used to in America. However British chocolate actually contains less sugar than the American variety, although it has a higher milk and cocoa content.
He also refers to it as 'candy', whereas in Britain it would be referred to as 'sweets' or simply 'chocolate'. In British English "candy" usually refers exclusively to hard-sugar confectionery such as boiled sweets, the sole exception being "candy floss" ("cotton candy" in American English). Although the chocolate shop clerk might have said it so Bart and Lisa aren't confused to what he meant. However, a sign in the shop says "candy" - this being a clear mistake by the writers.
Tony Blair recorded his part to the episode in April 2003. At first, David Beckham was originally sought to guest star in the episode, but producers later changed it, because Beckham wasn't famous enough in America.
In real life, Ian McKellan actually played Macbeth in the 1979 version of the Shakespeare play.
When praying to the "God of England", Homer offers to spell "color" as "colour" as well as to use the metric system. While it is true that "color" is spelled as "colour" in England, in reality England uses a mix of the metric and imperial systems, in a similar fashion to the United States.
Abe mentions that he met Edwina 59 years ago in 1944. This is exactly 59 years before 2003, so that is accurate.
Abe is shipped away to war straight from London, but in real-life, World War II soldiers were shipped from Portsmouth, England to Normandy, France.
This is the last episode written by John Swartzwelder (barring his work on The Simpsons Movie).
IGN.com wrote this episode is the best one from Season 15.
When Homer emerges from the secret tunnel, into the Queen's bedroom, he describes it as "fit for a Duke, or even an Earl". In fact, Earl is a lower rank than Duke; Duke is the highest non-royal aristocratic rank. Obviously, Homer would not know that.
In this episode, the Queen appears in court against Homer Simpson. In real life, the incumbent monarch is protected from prosecution and also cannot be called to give evidence in a case of criminal law.
In the scene when Homer is taken to court, he pulls out a round suitcase with the initials H.R.H. and states they stand for "Henrietta R. Hippo". H.R.H actually means His/Her Royal Highness.
The British monarch would never be styled as H.R.H., but rather H.M. (His/Her Majesty).
The first shot of London is The Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, which cuts to The Simpsons arriving at an airport. However, the nearest airports accepting flights from America are Heathrow (15 miles away), Gatwick (25 miles away) or Luton (30 miles away); all of which are outside Greater London. To travel from these airports into Central London would take an hour or more.
When the Simpsons are travelling on the double decker bus in London, the final destination is Aldwych Station. However, this Underground train station was closed in 1994, nine years prior to the episode airing. Additionally, the bus they are on is number 15, including destinations of South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park [Corner]. These are tube stations along the Piccadilly line (interestingly, Aldwych also used to be on the Piccadilly line before it was closed). In real life, bus number 15 travels between Blackwall station and Charing Cross station, passing next to the disused Aldwych station building.
It goes without saying that there are no drive-throughs for buses in London. Additionally, there are very few drive-throughs at all in Central London.
The London Eye is spinning far too fast. In reality, it travels at 26 cm per second (twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting) and takes 30 minutes to ride.
The Queen's guards carry guns in real life, not batons.
In the courtroom, there are police in blue uniform. However, being in London they should be members of the Metropolitan Police, who wear black uniform.
Homer is kept in The Tower Of London after sentencing. However, in real life, prisoners are no longer kept in Her Majesty's Royal Palace And Fortress. Nowadays, it is used mainly as a tourist attraction (which is somewhat implied by the schoolteacher and kids visiting Homer's cell in a manner similar to a field trip), and also holds the crown jewels.
If Homer had been sentenced, he would've been sent to HM Prison Belmarsh at Thamesmead in Southeast London. Under the UK's prison system, HMP Belmarsh is classed as a "Category A" (closed) men prison, reserved for prisoners who are either been convicted or being remanded on serious offenses including treason and are deem as "highly dangerous" if they escaped.
Homer follows a secret tunnel out of his cell in the Tower. It leads to HRH Queen Elizabeth's bedroom, but in reality, this tunnel would have to be three miles long, and travel through central London, or under The Thames.
The Queen Victoria memorial statue is shown to be just a roundabout, however, in London, the statue has a large platform underneath for people to stand on. Also, the cars are shown to go all the way around the roundabout, but the roundabout doesn't go round in a full loop.
On the leftmost picture, Patty and Selma's dress colors are switched
During the scene where the Simpsons decide on what to use the $1000 for, the picture of Selma and Patty on the mantle has their clothes switched, as Patty is wearing Selma's blue dress and Selma is wearing Patty's pink dress. The next time Marge is seen, the same picture does not show Selma and Patty's dresses, and Patty's "upper-armpit line" is seen, as if they are wearing low strapless dresses. And when the "Honeymoon" picture above the mantle is seen, the picture of Selma and Patty is drawn in more detail, with each wearing their correct dresses and wearing their jewelry.
Production Notes[]
November 7, 2002
The final draft for this episode is dated November 7, 2002.[1]
Tony Blair recorded his part for the episode in April of 2003.[2]
