There's a moment in 'The Well' – the unsettling third episode of Ncuti Gatwa's second season of Doctor Who – that directly calls back to James Cameron's all time sci-fi classic Aliens.
In that film, Sigourney Weaver's battle-scarred Ellen Ripley, trapped on a world full of acid-blooded Xenomorphs on a mission that has gone seriously SNAFU, advises, "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit." In 'The Well' trooper Cassio suggests something similar, using almost exactly those words. It's a clear nod to a film that is generally considered a benchmark for sci-fi sequels – one that expands the scope of its fictional universe without ruining the original.
