Ronan never blinks.
Writer Tim Price had worked in the writer's room early in series 11's development. The team loved the 'brilliant and unusual' name devised by Price for the alien species Pting, and kept it for this story. He was unavailable to work on the series but Price was listed as the creature's creator in the end credits, which was ultimately written by head writer Chris Chibnall.
The strongest threat level the ship's computer has is "Chalice". In Quebec French, that word ("câlice," a cup used in Catholic communion) is used as an incredibly strong profanity word.
The Doctor says she should have known she was on a space ship because there were vibrations. As well, the space ship scenes three episodes prior, The Ghost Monument (2018), had a shaky cam effect added. In the real world, vessels are not prone to vibrate when in space - there are no sources of vibration outside the vessel, and the vessel itself needs less propulsion from engines than it does in an atmosphere.