Ernie Hudson's character, Colonel James Gallant, asks Dr Archie Morris if he'd served in the military. Morris said he hadn't due to flat feet. Actor Ernie Hudson joined the USMC as a teenager but was discharged after only several months due to asthma.
The song that Sam Taggart wakes up to is "Trouble Sleeping" on Corinne Bailey Rae's eponymous debut album.
The title refers to the common expression "Politics makes strange bedfellows" commenting on the odd compromises and partnerships that come in the political arena.