Unlike other BBC properties by Cresswell, "Lizzie Dripping"'s status as a series based on previous novels is somewhat ambiguous. The characters and situations were original to the so-called pilot. The first series followed too closely on that pilot for Cresswell to have written and published books in the intervening time. However, the series broadcast in 1975 was mostly based upon three "Lizzie Dripping" novels that she had published in 1974. Thus, the property is a mixture of elements which first appeared on television and some that first appeared in print.