The inspiration for casting Joanna Lumley as Patsy came from a sketch on The Full Wax (1991). There, Ruby Wax interviewed Lumley, where the actress (who had previously been seen as a prim and proper English rose) played herself as a drunk, cocaine-addicted, washed-up has-been.
When the series first aired in 1992, the BBC placed it on its out-of-the-mainstream channel, BBC2, thinking that it might build a modest cult following. However, the show drew such high ratings that it was moved to the more Populist channel, BBC1. According to Jon Plowman, head of comedy at the BBC, during the development of the first series there was concern that "an audience outside the square mile of Soho - the trendy district of London - would not know what this was about." It eventually became one of the highest-rated shows in Britain.
During Pride Week in New York City in 2002, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders served as judges at an Edina and Patsy look-a-like competition at a gay bar.
Eddie's kitchen, home of many classic scenes with Mother, including the distinct staircase, was re-used as the shop in the Miranda Hart sitcom Miranda (2009).
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley also portrayed their characters on an episode of Roseanne (1988) opposite Laurie Metcalf. Metcalf guest-starred on this show, although as a different character.