As the comedian was very sensitive about his baldness, BBC hairdressers had to put Lurcio's Roman hairpiece over Frankie Howerd's own toupée, much to the bemusement of producer David Croft.
The show was inspired by Frankie Howerd's performance in the original London stage production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".
While guest starring on an episode, Valerie Leon met Michael Mills, the BBC head of comedy. They ended up getting married in 1974, though he was 25 years her senior. She admitted in an 1991 interview that she was looking for a father figure to look after her, saying, "I was quite neurotic at the time and he used to keep me calm."
The character of Lurcio is based on a the character of the elusive 'Clever slave', a character who appeared in Plautus' plays as a driving force to the plots.
Lurcio often behaves in a somewhat homophobic fashion, and will spend much time admiring and ogling beautiful women. In his personal life, Frankie Howerd was homosexual, but had been hiding the then-career-destroying secret from his fans and from his family.