Quote
The quote and chapter title are both from the 1967 song "Let's Spend the Night Together" by the Rolling Stones.

https://youtu.be/1k9qy-c1XXk

Noel's Outfit
When Noel turns up at Julian's hotel room after his dinner with Jeannie, he is wearing white flares, a pink and white floral shirt open to the navel, and white high heeled boots. I can't actually remember if I saw Noel wearing this outfit, or if I just cobbled it together in my mind out of various items of clothing he's worn. It does actually seem very Noel though, and I had way too much fun imagining it!

Julian has trouble getting Noel's tight trousers down, which Noel explains as being due to his "muscular thighs from playing football". This is taken from "The Chokes" episode of The Mighty Boosh, when Vince/Noel struggles to get into a very tight pair of trousers, and blames it on his muscular footballer's thighs. I suspect this is how Noel sees his body in real life, and he often makes jokes about his stumpy little corgi legs, his chicken drumstick legs etc.

Noel's "little blue pants" are taken from the "Killeroo" episode of The Mighty Boosh – although in that context, it was actually Howard/Julian who is said to have danced in the moonlight wearing only his little blue pants.

I Love You
At the height of making love, Julian gasps out, "I love you". More than one reader felt that this was far too soon for such a momentous announcement, but I think perhaps it is different in the Afterlife, where you can at times feel as though you are forced to tell the truth.

Apart from this, the scene was partly inspired by one in the "Tundra" episode of The Mighty Boosh. In the belief that they are just about to die, Howard/Julian feels compelled to say "I love you" to Vince/Noel, who laughs (just like in the story). Howard/Julian is insulted by this, but even though Vince/Noel tells Howard/Julian that he loves him as well, Howard/Julian is too offended to accept it – not to mention embarrassed when they don't die after all.

This plot comes from the Arctic Boosh stage show, which Noel simply says is a story "about love".

Note that just as Howard makes a declaration of love when he believes he is at the point of death, Julian makes it just as he orgasms – sometimes called le petit mort, "the little death".

Julian Reality Check
Julian tells Noel that he wouldn't mind either way if he thought Noel was a girl but then found out he was a boy. There are quite a few photos in circulation of Julian snogging women at backstage parties etc, and they do tend to look rather like Noel! In fact, Julian once saw Noel without any makeup (he'd just got out of the shower), and freaked out because he looked exactly like Julian's girlfriend, Julia Davis. Julia is the same height as Noel, and has a similar slight build and face shape.

This picture of Julian kissing DJ and club queen Melvis Crawford has sometimes fooled people into thinking it's one of him kissing Noel, she looks so much like him

Noel Reality Check
Noel is taken to a French restaurant for dinner by his Case Worker, Jeannie. Noel apparently does have some French ancestry, and says his favourite restaurant is La Colombe d'Or in St Paul de Vence, Provence. This is a famous and very fancy restaurant featuring a modern art collection, and having had guests such as Picasso, Yves Montand, and James Baldwin. You can imagine Noel as a teenager being a bit overwhelmed by the luxury he would later be used to.

Noel says he has never "got off with another bloke" except for "snogging and messing about". In real life, Noel said that he was in a band at college with a boy who was "quite androgynous and a bit bisexual", and they "used to play up to that a little bit". I decided that in the story, the fictional Noel had also had a few experiences with other boys in college, but it hadn't gone very far. I maintained similar vague language as well.

Julian and Noel Reality Check
When Julian opens the door to Noel, he tries to think of something cool to say, and welcomes him with, "You can come in, but you can never leave." Noel responds with, "That's fine. I haven't got much on."

This is a deliberate mirror image of a situation which occurred in real life. The first time Julian went over to Noel's house, Noel said that Julian could come in, but never leave. Julian said that was alright, he didn't have much on.

I liked the idea of the roles being reversed in the Afterlife, since it is the opposite of Life. Note that as you cannot tell a direct lie in the Afterlife, when Julian tells Noel he can never leave (him), this must be quite true. And naturally Noel doesn't have much on, he's in the Afterlife Limbo of the Waystation!