J & L Randall was a toy and novelty manufacturer started in 1940. The initials S. E. L. stand for Signalling Equipment Limited, which was J & L Randall's brand for scientific and technical toys, e.g., microscopes and steam engines. They used the brand "Merit" for mass-market toys. They were ultimately purchased by Mattel.

Dan Dare was a science fiction character created by Frank Hampson for the comic strip magazine Eagle in 1950. A young Aurthor C. Clarke was a science advisor for the first six months of the strip (Gorton 2010).