Producer Ian Keill suggested the idea of a series of music set to pictures after he'd worked with Neil Innes on [Rutland Weekend Television (1975)]. Innes wanted to call the series "Parodies Lost", but eventually relented to the more populist title used.
Although unnamed on screen, Neil Innes stated that his recurring character of a dinner-jacket wearing man with slicked-back hair was a steal of the Master of Ceremonies character played by Joel Grey in [Cabaret (1972)], and had accordingly given the character the name "Nick Cabaret".
Throughout the series Neil Innes performs 92 songs, all of which are listed under "soundtracks" of their respective episodes.