Most of the material was newly written for the album along with a handful of sketches from the third series of Flying Circus, one from the second ("Bruces") and another from the first ("Pet Conversions").

The team were once again joined by Neil Innes, who provided a trio of rock music parodies for "The Background to History".

[2] The initial pressings were designed to resemble a box containing a tie and handkerchief, the concept being that the record was merely a 'free gift' included with the package.

The album's original LP edition is particularly notable in that it was mastered with two concentric grooves on side two, so that different material would be played depending on where the stylus was put down on the record's surface.

This meant the two B-sides no longer had equal length, resulting in a long silence following the "Phone-In" sketch at the end of the second Side B.

The 2006 reissue featured new sound effects on some sketches as well as four previously unreleased bonus tracks, although these date from the 1980 Contractual Obligation Album sessions.

[5] The following sketches are from the TV series: "Dead Bishop", "Bruces", "Cheese Shop", "Boxing Tonight", "Mrs. Niggerbaiter", "Oscar Wilde", and "Pet Conversions".