Simon Callow said, "I loved doing it and it's one of the most popular things I ever did. The central character, Tom Chance, was a guy who was plagued by coincidence that was the basic formula of the series. The charming thing about him was that he seemed to belong to another world completely. He spoke in the most extraordinary way, which I think was derived from Mr. Jingle in The Pickwick Papers - he never used the personal pronouns ... He'd say, "... went to bank ... had problem ... sat down ... couldn't get out ... killed a woman ... very sad...". Brenda Blethyn, she's absolutely superb in it. Brenda and I and the writers are desperately keen to do a series, 25 years later on ... same couple ... I think it would be wonderful."
In every episode, halfway through a sentence, Tom (Simon Callow) drinks a pint of lager from a dimple glass in just 4-5 seconds. Sometimes two pints.
Shown less than 2 years after Channel 4 had started broadcasting in the UK, this was one of their more mainstream shows. It was also a critical and commercial success for the channel and helped make the names of both the main characters.
Brenda Blethyn received fan mail and marriage proposals when this show was aired.