In one scene, Mervyn [Daniel Mays] tells Sean [Matt Di Angelo] that he should answer the question before it is asked. Mervyn is then about to ask Sean a question, when Sean replies, "42." This is a reference to Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) in which 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Cockney wide-boy Mervyn's fantasy interlude shows him being taken seriously as a businessman by three of the real-life Dragons of Dragons' Den (2005-): a crack in his armour, or his tell.
Mervyn's "electric cigarette" was still slightly novel when this episode was made, and he makes a big deal of having one. The smoking ban in UK enclosed spaces took place in 2007.