Dennis Potter originally wanted the period material to be filmed in black and white but budgetary constraints ruled against that.
Potter originally planned to drop the noir thriller aspect of the plot after the first episode as he felt that it wouldn't hold the audience's attention.
Peggy Ashcroft was originally offered the role of the schoolteacher.
Like Philip Marlow, Dennis Potter suffered from psoriatic arthopathy, a condition that attacks the skin and joints. As gruesome as the condition is as depicted here, the production actually downplayed it for, in reality, it can be much worse with bleeding skin and pustulent sores.
The scene where a delusional old patient climbs into bed with Philip Marlow , thinking that he is his wife, actually happened for real to Potter during one of his innumerable stays in the hospital.
Write Who You Know: The notorious Moral Guardian Mary Whitehouse assumed that the series was largely autobiographical and claimed in a radio interview that Potter had been mentally scarred as a child by seeing his mother having adulterous sex, as the young Marlow does. Potter's mother sued for libel and won.
The film
Box Office Bomb: Budget, $8 million. Box office, $337,173. The film suffered from brutal critical reviews and an extremely limited release of 46 theaters.
Saved from Development Hell: The screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for many years as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version. Robert Altman was at one time attached to direct with Dustin Hoffman in the lead, but financing proved difficult and the production was shelved.
