Alex (Keeley Hawes) mentions a riot at Strangeways. On 1st April 1990 prisoners rioted at Strangeways Prison in Manchester t for 25 days. The prison and rooftop protest, in which prisoners hurled the slates off the roof, ended on 25th April 1990. One prisoner was killed and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured. It was the longest prison disturbance in British legal history. It also sparked off disturbances in prisons across England, Scotland and Wales. The reasons for the riot were investigated in the Woolf Report.
Gene (Philip Glenister) says, "like the bloody paddies in the Maze", referencing Her Majesty's Prison Maze, Northern Ireland, which was a prison used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from 1971-2000. On 25 September 1983, thirty-eight prisoners at the Maze were involved in a breakout. They hi-jacked the meals lorry and smashed their way out. During the breakout, four prison officers were stabbed, including James Ferris who died of a heart attack as a result, and another officer who was shot in the head. Only 19 of the prisoners were recaptured.
Gene (Philip Glenister) says, "I do not stink, I bath in Matey." Matey is a UK children's bubble bath made by the Matey company. It was first produced in 1958 and sold in skittle-shaped plastic bottles with the character Sailor Matey on it. From 1960, he was joined by Miss Matey, and over the decades various other characters appeared on the bottles. In the 1980s Sailor Matey and Miss Matey were renamed Mr and Mrs Matey.
Alex (Keeley Hawes) says, "There he goes; Braveheart in Paco Rabanne", referring to the 1995 film Braveheart (1995) starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace, a 13th Century Scottish Knight who gained recognition by opposing King Edward I of England. Paco Rabanne is a men's cologne by perfumer Jean Martel launched in 1973. A classic, it includes notes of lavender, oakmoss, and tobacco, and was a FIFI awards winner in 1975. Paco Rabanne is the cologne of choice of DCI Derek Litton (Lee Ross) (see Series 1: Episode 4 of Life on Mars (2006)).
Gene (Philip Glenister) says, "Jesus wanted 'im for a sunbeam", referencing the children's Christian hymn, "I'll be a Sunbeam" by Nellie Talrot, sung to the tune composed by Edwin O Excell in 1900. The first line is, "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam."