In an interview in March 2000, Terry Pratchett recalls: "It was all done of a shoestring, so they were very happy with my help. And it actually did very well because they had some very good actors who gave up time to do it. Brian Blessed played William Stickers. There's a point where death hauls up a boat in the canal to take him away and William Stickers says, 'How much do you get paid for that? It's not enough.' The actors were so wrapped up, they cooked up an extra twist to the scene which will bring tears to your eyes. It may have been Brian Blessed doing it. As the boat is being punted away, he stands up and sings the last verse of "The Internationale." Then it fades to black. It happened because one of the actors said to Brian, 'My father was exactly like this character and that's how he would have liked to go out.' They put a lot into it and it was a fun thing."
The series originated from a profile of Terry Pratchett in the young people's arts series Opening Shot in 1993.
Andrew Falvey, who played the title part of 12 year old Johnny Maxwell, the same role he played in dramatized excerpts from Terry Pratchett's book in this earlier documentary, recalls: "One of the highlights of filming was when Terry Pratchett came out to the shoot one day and said I was the perfect Johnny. I just went bright red, I was so pleased."
The story is loosely based on real events in Westminster in the 1980s, when the council sold three cemeteries as building land for 15p.