The series, in common with all situation comedies of its time, was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Mark Lewisohn notes that the writers were careful to ensure that the sets, lighting and camerawork were of a quality more normally associated with drama productions such as "Upstairs, Downstairs". For a situation comedy, the episodes are an unconventional length (50 minutes). The 50 minute duration was Croft's idea, as he felt this would give them the opportunity to develop characters and situations more thoroughly. This was supported by Gareth Gwenlan, head of BBC comedy. Also unconventional for a Perry/Croft series was the fact that plots directly continued from episode to episode like a soap opera as opposed to being largely standalone episodes such as in "Dad's Army", "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", etc.