Politicians With Connections to Red Dwarf

[cwickham]

Tracy Brabin, currently Labour’s MP for Batley & Spen, was formerly an actress, and was the original choice for Kochanski Camille in “Camille”, but her scenes were later re-shot with Suzanne Rhatigan.

I would be fairly sure that Tracy is the only politician ever to have actually worked on Red Dwarf, although the following politicians can make a claim to getting it mentioned in the House of Commons:

– Michael Fabricant (Tory) describes it as ‘a personal favourite’ in 1995: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1995-02-09a.471.0&s=%22red+dwarf%22#g539.0 However, Mr Fabricant later outed himself as a horrible racist during an appearance on “Have I Got News for You”, so I prefer to think he was lying.
– John Pugh (Lib Dem) references Holly here: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2003-03-04.708.0&s=%22red+dwarf%22#g721.1
– Finally, Howard Stoate of Labour quotes Kryten in a healthcare debate: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2008-05-08b.311.0&s=%22red+dwarf%22#g321.0 This one is my personal favourite, because the guy *must* have been a genuine fan of the show to even consider making such a detailed reference (this was in early 2008, when it seemed like the show must be a thing of the past).

Topic

[John Hoare]

That Howard Stoate one is fucking amazing.

[Seb Patrick]

John Pugh used to teach me RE. He also taught philosophy and was generally thought of as one of the “cool teachers”.

Unfortunately he went on to have a bloody awful record on voting for gay rights and welfare, so he wasn’t so cool after all.

[cwickham]

Is Bill Clinton actually a fan of Red Dwarf, or was that something made up for the inside flap of the VIII scriptbook?

[Seb Patrick]

It had been said before that (Universe Challenge is the first place I remember seeing it) but I’ve no idea whether it’s actually true/where it came from…

[Plastic Percy]

As much a fan of Red Dwarf as Eternal are, I’ve always guessed. I’ve taken a lot of the recieved wisdom in the VIII script book with a pinch of salt. Like the whole bit at the end where Doug suggests they were minutes away from filming the Ace Rimmer ending, with Chris suitably bewigged, before he decided on the Grim Reaper idea.

[Ben Paddon]

“Bill Clinton likes Red Dwarf” is one of those facts like “Max Spielberg’s favorite video game is Worms.” It’s nice, but utterly unverifiable.

[flanl3]

We’ll just have to wait for him to show up and make fun of all of us, I guess.

[Dave]

Adolf Hitler Special Guest Starred as himself.

[Plastic Percy]

American King Jeff Kay.

[Ben Paddon]

I wonder if Hitler’s descendants (assuming there are any) get residual checks for that appearance.

[Captain Bollocks]

There’s a 1997 edition of How Do they Do That? that has a feature on the Red Dwarf special effects team. If you’ll recall, the show by that point was being co-presented by future-Tory MP Esther McVey.

[cwickham]

Here is the only mention of The Brittas Empire ever made in the House of Commons: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2012-02-01b.301.1&s=brittas#g311.1

[Ridley]

Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester.

[Author]

Replies