Despite winning a BAFTA for best comedy, it was felt by many involved that the show was too much in the shadow of Porridge and lacked the sparkle of its predecessor. Producer, Sydney Lotterby, said that Fletcher and Godber lacked purpose and context outside of the prison setting and that it was 'almost inevitable that there wouldn't have been a second series' regardless of Richard Beckinsale's subsequent death.
The establishment where Fletch is hired as night porter, the Hotel Dolphin, is sited in Sussex Gardens, Bayswater.
Richard Beckinsale was starring in a West End musical every night at the same time as rehearsing and filming Going Straight and the physical and mental strain from his numerous commitments were being noticed by his friends and co-stars. He had already quit Rising Damp and turned down the role of "James Herriot" in the BBC's All Creatures Great and Small as he tried to drastically reduce his workload to spend more time with his young family.
Ronnie Barker plays Patricia Brake's father despite only being 13 years older than her in real life.
The Fletcher living room looks different to what it did in the Porridge episode Men Without Women (1974).