[65] The city in question is Kettering (2001 census population 51,063), third-largest (at the time) in Northamptonshire. The nearest village to Crofthenge is actually Hanging Houghton.

[116] I hadn't read Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas at the time, but this bit bears an odd resemblance to the "Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a highway traffic cop" passage.

[138] A lot of readers - hell, most readers, if the mail we got was any indication - automatically assumed right from this first scene that DJ was just an ass. And while he does take a very arrogant attitude toward a lot of things in the early going, what people don't see until later in the season, and much more so in the second season, is that a lot of that is a cover, his way of handling a situation in which he doesn't feel nearly as confident as he seems. The trick is, he acts more or less the same when he's in a situation he does believe he can handle. It's a very well-developed defense mechanism.

[230] Ken Stanfield is, in fact, Tommy Lee Jones's "K" character from Men in Black, though there's no indication that that's the character's former name in the actual movie - it was made up locally.

[268] Majestic 12 is the code name, much-beloved of UFOlogists and other conspiracy theorists, of the secret committee formed by President Truman in response to the UFO incidents of 1947. In NXE it was a forerunner to X-COM.

[412] As we will learn much later, Gendou means his son Shinji.

[473] This is more than just the momentary fancy of a young man with a romantic temperament: It's the beginning of Rei's celestial attunement to DJ, though neither character understands enough to recognize it at the time.

[541] No corporeal being can touch the blood of an angel with impunity.

[619] Shepard's Prayer.

[706] And, more to the point, somewhere in what remains of his consciousness at this stage, Lucifer now knows who DJ is...

[846] I didn't want to waste any time establishing that this version of Gendou was an absolute bastard.

[848] I wanted an ending song that was more upbeat than "Fly Me to the Moon", but still mentioned the moon. The fact that a more melancholy cover of the same tune was available for a later season was a bonus as well.