The school scenes are filmed at the school where Greg Davies actually used to work as a teacher for six years in his early 20s; even the same classroom he used is featured. Despite claiming to hate the job, he was, at one point, nominated for "Teacher of the Year" there (the reason given: "He's a well good laugh and he don't make us do no work.")
The late Rik Mayall played the father of Greg Davies and the brother of Stephanie Cole, who replaced him in series two after his death. In fact, he was only 10 years older than Davies and 17 years younger than Cole.
During episode four, Greg hypnotises a community support officer to shout out his PIN number, 6079. This is actually the citizen number for the protagonist of 1984's Winston Smith.
The school featured during the show is St Clement Danes, near Chorleywood, featuring the Barbirolli Hall and the art department.