Desmond's long-held dream throughout the show was to retire to his homeland of Guyana, which is how the series ended - ironically, because actor Norman Beaton had decided to do the same. On 13 December 1994 - six days before the final episode of the show aired - Beaton flew to Guyana, collapsed with a heart attack at Georgetown Airport and died just hours later, aged 60.
The character of Ghanaian student Matthew was created to show that racial prejudice and stereotypes could exist within the wider black community as well as towards it.
Creator Trix Worrell chose to make the Ambrose family Guyanese in origin because he felt Jamaican and Trinidadian characters dominated the limited amount of programming focused on Britain's Caribbean community.
Dominic Keating, who played Tony, left the show to work in the United States, with the character also leaving to work overseas. Ironically, Keating's first significant job in the US was as a voiceover artist in a Vidal Sassoon advert, promoting hair products.
Although Peep Show (2003) is classified as Channel 4's longest-running sitcom in terms of years on air (2003 - 2016), more episodes were made of Desmond's than any other Channel 4 sitcom (71 compared to Peep Show's 54), as series two to six of the show featured 12 episodes each.