Sherrin wrote Cohen "had spotted the potency of cheap TV spin-offs and was envious of the Boulting brothers’ success with Till Death Us Do Part (1968)."

[3] In May 1970 it was announced the film would be the first in a series of comedies produced by Ned Sherrin for Anglo-EMI, the second of which would be The Last Virgin Left Alive from a script by Eleanor Bron and John Fortune based on the novel Jam Today by Susan Barratt.

"[7] Talbot Rothwell wrote the scripts to the television series but was busy writing Carry On movies so the screenplay was written by Sid Colin.

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Although the screenplay is credited to Sid Colin, Up Pompeii is distinguishable only by its length from the TV comedy series written by Talbot Rothwell.

The jokes are not merely similar but in some cases actually the same; and apart from the clumsily staged eruption of Vesuvius and collapse of Pompeii evidence of an attempt to translate television into cinema is slight.

However, the cast is more illustrious than usual, and in addition to Frankie Howerd's asides, fans of the series have an extra treat in Patrick Cargill's accomplished portrayal of boredom in the person of the Emperor Nero.

There's more interest in trying to put names to the plethora of familiar British faces in the cast, among them Patrick Cargill as the Emperor Nero and Michael Hordern as the unfortunate Ludicrus Sextus.