When the boys print out the analysis that Gobby's father has done on the dead fish, a paragraph is embedded in Mr McFarlane's scientific report which explains what fonts a Terminet printer is capable of. This looks as if it shouldn't be there.
The end credits and music for the Thunderbirds TV series are featured briefly when one of the children is watching TV.
The portable video tape recorder that the boys used to film the illegal dumping of chemicals was a JVC PV-4800U, launched in 1974. It was one of the last domestic recorders to use open-reel tape, and was superseded by cassette-based formats such as Philips N1500, Sony Betamax and JVC VHS.