The show was developed from a late-night live radio show on BBC Radio 4 called 'In One Ear'.
The show was reportedly assigned its own lawyer, following legal issues with a joke in Carrott Confidential (1987). Alison Peachey published an interview with star Nick Wilton in the Aberdeen Press and Journal (23rd February 1987) stating that the BBC were nervous about further legal problems, so had a solicitor vet the scripts beforehand.