This episode shows Lister trying to come to terms with losing a limb (his right arm). Writer Doug Naylor lost one of his legs in a car accident when he was young.
Holly breaks the fourth wall by saying "He's back, kicking bottom or what?" to the audience.
Scenes cut from the episode:
- More scenes of Kochanski and Kryten trying to make Lister feel better about losing his arm, only for Cat to butt in and make him feel worse. As they talk about Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, Cat says that he wouldn't have won if it had been an arm-wrestling contest.
- More discussion on the nanobots, with Kochanski saying that they are smaller than a supermodels' lunch bill. She suggests how they could repair Lister's arm from his "excess tissue"; Cat agrees, saying that his "butt has spread more than most religions".
- Continued discovery, including more time in the newly-acquired buggy on the Red Dwarf planetoid.
- With the team so pleased to have Holly back, his part in the episode became a little over-written, and so a few of Holly's jokes were cut.
- These show that the Holly inside the wristwatch is more deranged than ever, possibly since he has had to endure further and extended isolation. He's also realised that "he's no longer a woman", explaining the reintroduction of Norman Lovett instead of Hattie Hayridge. Holly also continually tells them the time as they have a discussion on where the nanobots could be.
Viewing figures had reached over 8 million viewers, and the series also gained a Sunday night repeat. These were the highest ratings garnered so far.
Chloë Annett was highly visible on British TV the week the episode aired; on March 1 her science fiction detective series Crime Traveller (1997) debuted on BBC One, and would run for a further seven episodes after Series VII ended its run. However, despite good ratings, it would not be renewed, whereas Annett and Red Dwarf would return.