Parts two and three feature scenes filmed on the set of Coronation Street (1960). At the time of filming, Craig Charles was appearing on the long-running soap opera. Coronation Street is produced by the ITV network. Red Dwarf was originally made by it's competitor BBC Television, but 'Back To Earth' was made for the cable channel 'Dave', owned by UKTV.
Several references are made to events in Series 9. This series was never produced due to the BBC declining to commission it several years before. Technically, Back to Earth is the 9th season of Red Dwarf.
According to Craig Charles, in order to help himself cry during the scene with Kochanski, he thought of the deaths of his father and Mel Bibby.