The only episode of the series to be shot entirely on film as opposed to the usual practice of shooting the interiors (the flat, the pub, etc) at BBC television centre studios on videotape. And also why there was no studio audience to provide the laugh track.
This was the second time that the Trotters' flat had an extra wall. As previous episodes were shot in a studio, there was no fourth wall but now there is a wall shown, where the studio audience would watch the episode being filmed, so that this special had a location feel without any studio bombardments showing.
When Rodney suggests they find the way to Holland by stars Del says "Oh yeah, I saw that in the Onedin Line". This is an in-joke because Philip Bond (Van Kleefe) used to be in The Onedin Line (1971).
When Denzil drives away at the traffic lights, Del is upset and wonders why Denzil hasn't let him fill his lorry up. Rodney reminds Del of the awful things that he has done to Denzil in the past:
- Ruined his wedding reception (Previously mentioned in "Who's a Pretty Boy? (1983)").
- Almost broken up his marriage to Corrine (she couldn't appear anymore because Eva Mottley, who played Corrine, died).
- Flooded his kitchen ("Who's a Pretty Boy?" again).
- Stole his £2,000 redundancy money ("As One Door Closes (1985)").
This, the show's first feature-length episode was pitched deliberately against the Christmas special of Minder (1979) in 1985 since the two shows were considered rivals what with their similar characters and scenarios. David Jason never considered them rivals because he was a big fan of Minder (1979) and felt it was something stirred up by the press just to sell newspapers. In the end, Only Fools came out ahead with an audience of 17 million, which shocked Jason.