Red Dwarf

Parallel Universe - S2-E6

Question: At The End of this episode Lister, Rimmer and the Cat are finding out whether Lister is pregnant or not. When Rimmer reads the pregnancy test he says "Oh excellent news, I'm going to be an uncle." Why does he say this if he is to of no relation with Lister? (as far as I know).

Answer: It's quite common for male friends of the family to be referred to as "uncle" by the children, even if they're not actually related in any way - I have at least three old friends of my parents who I refer to in these terms. Rimmer may be stretching the point with the 'friend' thing, but that's what he's referring to.

Tailkinker

Answer: It's him singing (and dancing), as singing/dancing is what he was primarily known as doing before he began acting (usually backup singing). He is, for example, in Little Shop Of Horrors (for all of 2 seconds), singing backup. Danny actually re-recorded the song and released it as a single, which reached No. 17 in the UK charts.

Gary O'Reilly

Parallel Universe - S2-E6

Question: When Lister, Rimmer, and the Cat are waiting for the pregnancy test to change color, and Rimmer wants it to turn red, he cheers it on saying, "Come on you reds." Is this a cultural reference?

Answer: Sort of. A common colour for football teams in the U.K is Red (or blue). "Come on you reds!" is a chant sometimes shouted at football games in support of whatever team is wearing red at the time, although nowadays it's more of a "generic football chant" rather than something used heartily by fans of a certain team. Rimmer is just indicating he's hoping for a positive on the test, but pretending he's cheering for a football team (to break the joke down).

Gary O'Reilly

Answer: The Reds are a nickname for Liverpool FC, which of course is where Lister hails from, so there's a certain irony in Rimmer's line there.

Parallel Universe - S2-E6

Question: What exactly was the point of the 'Tounge Tied' scene at the start of this episode. It doesn't seem to be in any way important to the episode, apart from triggering the conversation about Rimmer's attitude towards women, which could have been done in a much quicker way.

Answer: This segment was included purely as a means of showcasing Danny (Cat) John-Jules' singing and dancing talents. It was released separately as a music video, and an extended version is apparently also included as an extra on the dvd.

Jean G

Answer: Originally the episode was to open without any titles or credits due to time constraints. Tongue Tied was used in the remastered episode as an opening, but has no relevance to the story or plot other than to display the Cats views on women. It is simply a dream sequence he recorded.

Timeslides - S3-E5

Factual error: The writer's understanding of the history of Nazism and its leaders is a bit shonky. Claus von Stauffenberg did not plant a bomb in Hitler's briefcase - he put it in his own briefcase which he planted in a meeting room next to Hitler (some berk moved it). This was in July 1944, while the last Nuremberg rally - which Lister visits, bringing back the briefcase - was in 1938. Stauffenberg didn't even join the anti-Hitler conspiracy until 1943. Red Dwarf is not an 'alternate history' - they correctly identify elements of the Stauffenberg plot and the Nazi regime, they just get them wrong.

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