The episode opens with a lengthy sequence in which the Doctor rummages around in Clara's personal history. We see how her mother and father first came together, all the way up to her mother's death - but there's nothing to explain the "Impossible Girl".
As RTD used to do, new companions tend to get a contemporary story, with their second usually their first trip in the TARDIS. The second and third stories take in both past and future / alien planet.
Clara gets to go to an alien planet (having already had a jaunt in the TARDIS in her first adventure).
It is to a planet which the Doctor tells her he has been to before. Not only that, but we know when this was as he mentions having been here with his grand-daughter - so probably one of those pre-Totters Lane outings which the First Doctor and Susan used to tell Ian and Barbara about.
The production team were quite open about the inspiration for the market overlooking the titular Rings - it was their chance to have a "Star Wars Cantina" moment.
One of the highlights of the first Star Wars movie was the sequence set in a bar in Mos Eisley, where Ben and Luke go in search of a pilot to take them off Tatooine. As well as a jaunty John Williams swing-style score, this featured a whole host of alien creatures, whereas the rest of the film mainly features humanoid characters.
Almost all of the subsequent "homages" included a similar sequence.
The producer and writer also discussed the speeder chase which featured in Return of the Jedi - which led to the appearance of the bike-like vehicles here.
Of the aliens which feature at the market, some had been seen before in the series only as background figures - in the Maldovarium for example. Others were designs created by Neil Gorton for other projects.
Talk of John Williams leads us on to another aspect of this story - its emphasis on music. This story allowed regular composer Murray Gold to showcase his talents, instead of merely providing the incidentals and theme.
Cast as Merry was Emilia Jones - daughter of singer and presenter Aled Jones, who came to fame singing the The Snowman song - Walking in the Air.
The planet having a face was inspired by the "Man in the Moon" figure seen in George Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902) - which has been parodied many times (e.g. by The Mighty Boosh).
Next time: pocket universes, haunted houses, and Quatermass...
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