Page "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Paragraph 17

Most characters in the series, from the dominatrix schoolmistress Rosa Coote to minor characters such as Inspector Dick Donovan, are either an established character from an existing work of fiction or an ancestor of the same, to the extent that individuals depicted in crowd scenes in Volume I have been said ( both by Moore, and in annotations by Jess Nevins ) to be visually designed as the ancestors of the cast of EastEnders.

This has lent the series considerable popularity with fans of esoteric Victoriana, who have delighted in attempting to place every character who makes an appearance.