When originally aired, the "Prince and the Black Spot" animation had the prince's cause of death as cancer. After a mild public outcry that this was insensitive, the narration was overdubbed (in a deliberately unsubtle way) to "gangrene". This remained in the DVD release but has been restored in the Blu-ray version.
The character Timmy Williams is based on David Frost. Amongst the fictitious names in the credits for the fictitious Timmy Williams show are Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Monty Python and Sydney Lotterby. The Pythons (minus Terry Gilliam) all got their start writing for The Frost Report (1966), and while they credited Frost with helping their career they would gently mock his unctuous manner and tendency to hog credit.
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970), began being written in 1967 and completed filming June 30, 1969. But the film studio deemed the content controversial for release on an election year. According to the Kevin Billington commentary "it was held for an entire year" until after the July '70 election. In the meantime, John Cleese and Graham Chapman who had worked on the film were now on TV with Monty Python.
So, not knowing if the film they had spent so much time making would ever be released, they wrote the nineteenth Python show which included a sketch called "Election Night Special". The sketch is a blatant remake of the election results scene from the Michael Rimmer film (which Cleese and Chapman wrote), in which silly names like Alderman Poot are made even more ridiculous. The Python sketch was aired 3 Nov 1970 , nine days before the film was finally released 12 Nov 1970.
During the "Election Night Special" sketch, John Cleese makes a joke about Arthur Negus "holding Bristols" and Mary Whitehouse "taking umbrage." "Bristol City" is Cockney rhyming slang for "titty." Mary Whitehouse was a British censor, the idea being that she objected to the previous joke.
In the "Election Night Special" sketch, the name of the Very Silly Party candidate from Harpenden Northeast is Malcolm Peter Brian Telescope Adrian Umbrella Stand Jasper Wednesday (pops mouth twice) Stoatgobbler John Raw Vegetable (sound effect of horse whinnying) Arthur Norman Michael (blows squeaker) Featherstone Smith (blows whistle) Northgot Edwards Harris (fires pistol, which goes 'whoop') Mason (chuff-chuff-chuff) Frampton Jones Fruitbat Gilbert (sings) 'We'll keep a welcome in the' (three shots, stops singing) Williams If I Could Walk That Way Jenkin (squeaker) Tiger-draws Pratt Thompson (sings) 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' Darcy Carter (horn) Pussycat 'Don't Sleep In The Subway' Barton Mannering (hoot, 'whoop') Smith.