In the interview "Seeing the Blossom", Dennis Potter comments that he wrote "Cold Lazarus" and its prequel "Karaoke" based on the simple writer's premise: "If you wanted to make the world a better place, who would you kill?"
Dennis Potter wrote a role for Louise Germaine, but she was unable to take it, as she was pregnant at the time.
This series was parodied later the same year in the dream sequence at the start of the "Only Fools and Horses" episode "Heroes and Villains".
"Snoop Kestrels" predicted contemporary surveillance drones.