Made as one of a four-part season "The Curse of Comedy" on BBC Four, though not billed on-screen with this series title. The other three films in the series were The Curse of Steptoe (2008), Hancock & Joan (2008) and Hughie Green, Most Sincerely (2008).
David Walliams was a lifelong fan of Frankie Howerd's and even managed to get his autograph after one of his live performances.
Dilys Laye (who plays Frankie's mother, Edith) appeared in Carry on Doctor (1967), a film which also featured Frankie Howerd, although the two do not share any scenes together.
Dilys Laye was ill during filming and died less than a year after this TV movie was first shown.