Vince is an anti-social eccentric who wants to live by his own peculiar set of rules and ensure that his henpecked lodger/flatmate Errol abides by them too.

Working as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool and with an acute phobia for being touched, Vince does his best to avoid dealing with other people.

Due to his lack of social skills, he manages to get himself into a succession of awkward situations: from teaching a swimming student with a psychotic husband; to helping a neighbour look after his new pet (a horse); to conducting a bitter feud with a gang of kids intent on destroying him.

[1] Additional cast members included Aml Ameen, James Bachman, Bill Bailey, Perry Benson, Cavan Clerkin, Felix Dexter, Simon Godley, Michael Greene, Melanie Gutteridge, Toby Jones, Mark Lamarr, Dan Mersh, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Paul Putner, Pearce Quigley, Peter Serafinowicz, William Tomlin and Steven Webb.

Series one aired from 24 November 1999 to 22 December 1999, and starred Lock, along with Felix Dexter, Jenny Eclair, Tim Mitchell, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Chris Pavlo and Peter Serafinowicz.

It dispensed with the idea of Sean listening in on others using "Bugger King", replacing it with a voiceover simply announcing the flat number of the subsequent scene.

Lock was adamant about retaining certain dialogue, explaining the effort taken to write something would be wasted, but also that the pay-off on a later joke related to the plot would be compromised.

[15]: 3:20 Lock and Lamarr found they could avoid unnecessary exposition dialogue between scenes when director Mark Nunneley showed they could simply use wipe transitions during the film edit.

[14] 15 Storeys High is noted for its drab, grainy, washed-out style to reflect the mundanity of the characters' lives.

[17] Directed by Mark Nunneley, the series was filmed unlike any show at the time, including the in-vogue mockumentary style.

The swimming pool for the first series, where Vince works as a lifeguard, is in the Ladywell Leisure Centre in Lewisham, London.

[12][21] The series was the victim of poor scheduling and did not get the attention given to other successful turn-of-the-millennium era British comedies, such as The Office, Phoenix Nights and The Royle Family.

These sitcoms similarly moved away from the traditional live studio audience and laugh track format using multiple cameras to a single-camera setup visual style.

[25][26][27] The hard work making the series, followed by the inept management in programming, left Lock disillusioned by the experience.

[22] In contrast, Wong recalled his experience with fondness and has progressed to a Hollywood career starring in big budget streaming shows such as Marco Polo playing Kublai Khan and appearing in Marvel movies.