Chinese curve tunes: The piece of music playing in the Bronze, as Faith and Buffy party after their attack on El Eliminati base is Chinese Burn, by British group Curve, a 1997 single from their album Come Clean. If it seems naggingly familiar, it's probably because Sony used it for a long-running advert for the Minidisc format.

Comic capers: There are several references to American newspaper comic strips that British viewers might find puzzling: Family Circus is a cosy strip that�s been running for forty years, and is carried by 1,500 newspapers worldwide; Marmaduke is the name of a dog in a strip that�s been around since 1954; Cathy refers to a relative newcomer, a strip about a single woman that debuted in 1976.

Brave seaman: "Let Captain Courageous here go, and I'll tell you what you need to know" contains an appropriate reference coming from the scholarly Giles: Captain Courageous is the title of an 1897 novel written by legendary writer Rudyard Kipling. The book, about a wealthy young boy who falls off an ocean liner, only to be rescued by Portuguese fishermen, has been filmed several times, most notably in 1937. Not to be missed is the appearance of the young Mickey Rooney with a squeeze box.

Tony's top tips: Do Wesley�s "three key words for any Slayer: preparation, preparation, preparation" remind you of a certain Prime Minister�s "education, education, education"?