Although it was made for television, it was briefly screened theatrically in late 1987 before it was broadcast on Channel 4 in March 1988.
The celebrity at the centre of the story was originally intended to be Bob Monkhouse, who thought it was a terrific idea but wasn't available for the filming dates. Frankie Howerd was then approached, but didn't like the swearing in the script. Eventually Nicholas Parsons was asked after a suggestion by Monkhouse (who knew Parsons).
Despite the praise lauded on it and the fact that it quickly became a cult favorite as, Stephen Frears wasn't keen on the script finding it "...hard to understand why it would be funny". Frears only agreed to do it when Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson agreed to his wish that the character of Mr Jolly be played by either comic Peter Cook or Dudley Moore (originally Robbie Coltrane had been approached to play it).