Drummer Karl Burns left soon after recording and was replaced by Mike Leigh, while founder member Martin Bramah quit mid-tour in April 1979, when some of the material intended for the second album had already been written.

[2][3] Riley moved from bass to guitar (his first instrument),[2] and also started to play keyboards following Yvonne Pawlett's departure after recording the "Rowche Rumble" single.

"Spectre Vs Rector" was, according to Pitchfork's Jason Heller, an answer to "Music Scene" on Live at the Witch Trials, commenting that "its sludge and subliminal menace practically invented post-rock as an afterthought".

[4] Dragnet would be the Fall's final album for Miles Copeland III's Step-Forward label; the band signed with Rough Trade Records in early 1980.

"[6] Nicholas Collias, reviewing the 2004 reissue for the Boise Weekly, viewed the music on the album as providing "the blueprint for The Fall's golden age of the early 1980s: paper-thin rockabilly with tinny, meandering guitars and lilting keyboards.

[4] Stereogum's Robert Ham was less enthusiastic about Dragnet and felt that "the songs are playful and feel like they were constructed just a few minutes before the tape started rolling, but that doesn't suit this version of The Fall one bit," criticising its lack of "tension".