During the Spice Girls song routine Erin plays Ginger Spice, but she does not wear the traditional Union Jack dress Ginger Spice was known for. The production team felt that showing the Union Jack, a symbol of Britain, would be inappropriate in Derry during the tense and troubled time the story takes place. Instead, the costume designers made a peace symbol dress for Erin, to show that all people wanted peace for their land.
The talent show is based on Stars in Their Eyes, a popular TV show in the 1990s which did indeed have members of the public impersonating popular singers, complete with banter in the beginning as the audience tried to guess who they were going to be. Father Peter is doing a pretty good impression of Matthew Kelley's presenting style.
The charity the gang is trying to raise money for, Children in Need, is a real charity run by the BBC which culminates every year with a live telethon that has musical performances.
For the Spice Girls song routine the gang does in the school talent show Erin plays Ginger Spice, Orla portrays Sporty Spice, Clare is Baby Spice, Michelle plays Scary Spice, and James is Posh Spice.
Aisling and Jenny's winning entry entry is an approximation to Shakespears Sister's "Stay" - the song was a UK number 1 hit for eight weeks in 1992.