In a deliberate case of art imitating life, the final episode of the first series introduces a character named Ron Rust (Joe Melia), a writer who, for reasons that he doesn't quite understand, owes the BBC £17,000 and is trying to write a black comedy about a university to pay the debt. The Ron Rust character also appeared in Davies's "A Few Short Journeys of the Heart" (an adaptation of his short story collection "Dirty Faxes"), first shown in the "Stages" series on BBC2 on 10 August 1994.