After the completion of four successful series for radio, plus the six Specials, a combination of unfortunate events occurred which curtailed what had been a popular and successful show. Firstly, a dispute arose with BBC Management, concerning the cast's decision to defect to ITV, to make a TV version of the show. And then, unexpectedly, the radio show's 29-year-old producer died. Former producer David Hatch was brought in to put together a final half-dozen episodes, from material already in the can, for a truncated final series: which was only transmitted after more than three years had elapsed since the previous series.