This episode was criticised for portraying a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and the BBC received complaints on the matter. The Editorial Complaints Unit ruled that the episode had contravened the BBC's "obligation of due impartiality on matters of public controversy" and that the episode would not be repeated in its original form. The episode was cited in From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel, an internal BBC report on impartiality in its output that was published in June 2007, a section of which highlighted that the name of the Westwake character bore more than a passing resemblance to that of Dr Andrew Wakefield.