[5] The characters had aspirations (Desmond to return to Guyana, Michael to run his own branch of the bank, Gloria to get a job in fashion, Sean to go to university) and were socially mobile.

[2][7] The show reveals antagonism between recent African immigrants and established Caribbeans based on their differences in aspirations.

[8] While Matthew was the frequent butt of jokes from the West Indian characters, particularly Porkpie and Desmond, he also regularly pointed out the strength of African history with his repeated interjection, "There's an old African saying..."[5] In 1989, Channel 4 described Desmond's as "the most instantly popular home-grown situation comedy in the channel's history," with the series appealing to a broad spectrum of the British public.

[9] Desmond's continued to perform well in subsequent years,[10] scoring consistently in the channel's Top 20 programmes.

[12] Speaking about his experiences while visiting Jamaica, Norman Beaton said he was "known in virtually every parish" because of his role in Desmond's.

[13] While Trix Worrell was at the National Film and Television School, he won a writers' competition organised by Channel 4, which led to producer Humphrey Barclay contacting him about writing a comedy.

To dispel the misconception that the laughter was a dubbed track added in post-production, an audience-participation moment was left in Series 4, Episode 5, "Calypso."

In a scene with Desmond writing a song for Shirley with very simple lyrics, the audience shouts out the last word of the verse.

[23] The series theme song "Don't Scratch My Soca," performed by Beaton, was used in the opening credits throughout the entire run.

[30] A clip from Series 1, Episode 6, "Sad News" was used in the segment celebrating British film and television in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

[53] On 2 March 2010, VEI released Desmond's- The Collection: Series One to Four, a seven-disc set featuring all episodes from the first four seasons.

[citation needed] Following the end of Desmond's in 1994, a spin-off series was made with Porkpie in the title role.