While in their cell doing menial tasks, Lister is making sandwiches. This is the same as Arthur Dent's occupation in "Mostly Harmless", the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.
The "Clean-off" Duel to the Death between Lister (Craig Charles) and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) is a bit of an inside joke. From 1998 through 2004 Craig Charles hosted "Robot Wars", which featured robots facing off against each other in an arena.
There was a real-life organization called MILF. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Moro-Philippines faction seeking independence from central government.
The episode was released online a week early as part of the Dave Channel's "UK TV Play" service. The episode could be streamed online from the 12th of October.