Other mistake: At the start of the episode, there is a spoof Star Wars-type caption, which spools up the screen very quickly. Too quickly to be read, in fact... which may explain why few people have noticed that the last line of the caption, "And now the Saga Continuums...", is written twice. (00:00:20)
Continuity mistake: Rimmer wears a hat with an antenna on the right hand side when on Starbug, and after arriving on Earth, but when he and Kryten are walking through the streets later on, the antenna is now on the left side of his hat, and is far more extended. (00:02:20 - 00:08:00)
Revealing mistake: When Kryten is doing his driving test, as soon as we see Rimmer and Kryten in the cockpit you can see the wire attached to Chris Barrie behind him, next to the aerial on his hat, going vertically out the top of the frame. (00:03:40)
Continuity mistake: When Kryten is piloting Starbug and gently "eases forwards", there is a shot shown from behind Starbug where it is driving out of the cargo bay to the exit, and it is shown a couple feet off the ground. When Starbug exits Red Dwarf in the next shot, Starbug is suddenly much higher above the ground. (00:04:20)
Revealing mistake: After Starbug has left Red Dwarf, the scene cuts to inside the ship where Rimmer tells Kryten to autopilot, and the background of space is entirely still, even though the ship is moving. (00:04:45)
Suggested correction: Stars are so far away that they do not appear to move when travelling in space, unless you reach incredibly high speeds or change direction.
Other mistake: When Rimmer is testing Kryten on a book of space traffic signs, Kryten stops on one page and is tested, which he says the sign is a binary star. Without turning the page, Rimmer points to a second sign on the same page asking what it is, which he points out is a blue giant about to supernova. After pointing to the time hole, Rimmer turns back to the book, saying "Right. What's this?" whilst still on the same page, pointing to a another sign. The page that is being used has one sign shown on the right hand side page, and the left hand side page is completely blank, equalling one sign on both sides of the page, but two or three signs are made mention to when on the page. (00:05:20)
Revealing mistake: After landing on Earth, Rimmer and Kryten are standing on land. When Kryten asks "What is this place?", a car can be seen driving forwards in the far background, even though everything in this version of Earth is supposed to work backwards. (00:06:15)
Plot hole: In the episode 'Backwards' most of the things that happen on 'Backwards Earth' are correct, except, of course, in reverse. But there is an exception: in the scene in the Cafe, when the waitress comes to 'dirty' the table, she tips a box of trash on the table. If you play this scene backwards, the trash leaps from the table into the box. Even on a 'backwards earth' I can't believe that trash spontaneously leaps about... (00:09:30)
Revealing mistake: When Lister and Cat are in Starbug searching for Rimmer and Kryten, the background of space shown out the window remains entirely still and doesn't move. (00:11:15)
Continuity mistake: In the forest, Lister and the Cat take a poster off a tree. They then show it to the man who gives them a lift. The poster is different to the one in the forest. (00:16:05)
Suggested correction: If you look at 00:13:47, you'll see that the closest tree has an odd poster. The other trees have the poster that they showed to the man that gives them a lift.
Revealing mistake: Lister and Cat get a ride to Nodnol after a man they bump into offers to take them in his van. The logo on the van appears completely normal, and has not been reversed, even though everything in this version of Earth is supposed to be reversed. (00:16:15)
Revealing mistake: The scene where the pub manager comes backstage to yell at Rimmer and Kryten was filmed, and then reversed to appear as if he was yelling backwards. Rimmer blinks when he is being yelled at, and due to the scene being played in reverse, his facial movements appear reversed, even though he is supposed to be moving forwards. (00:22:00)
Revealing mistake: Near The End of the episode, Kryten and his employer are seen arguing in supposedly backwards English. However, when you watch the episode how the people of earth would see it on the second DVD, Kryten and his employer aren't speaking English, they are just speaking plain gobbeldy-gook, even although when you see the people of Earth talking on the DVD they speak correctly. (00:22:30)
Plot hole: The barroom tidy scene in the pub makes absolutely no sense. It is established that this fight started because Lister and the Cat uneat a man's pie, which causes the man to punch Lister, and then the barroom brawl happens, but the events are reversed due to this version of Earth being set in a backwards reality. However, if the events of this fight are put into chronological order, this would mean that Lister uneating the man's pie and being punched by him would have been the last thing to happen during this fight, as it was the first thing to happen in reverse order, and therefore, would also means that there would have been no real reason for the pub patrons would get into a brawl in the first place, as nothing had occurred at that time. (00:23:15)
Revealing mistake: During the fight, there is a man in a 'Flash Gordon' t-shirt with the logo forwards. (00:24:45)