British children's TV of the 1970s:

Apparently often about children befriending really dirty old men with strange names.

Question: is it just an odd coincidence that I ran accross these two shows (on Wikipedia, link-surfing from Doctor Who) right after each other, or was that really something of a trend back then?

Unexpected pop culture reference

The 3rd Doctor, to someone who's disappointed by his mode of transport: "What did you expect, some kind of space rocket with Batman at the controls?" (Inferno, 1970)

(Please tell me I didn't mishear that. I so want the Doctor to have made a Batman reference.)