Both the co producer and co star David Wenham aren't fans of the books, having stated: series co-producer, John Edwards, who admits he "wasn't a fan back in the day" of Barrett's "extremely popular" books, which have required a "huge amount" of reinvention: "They weren't art, and in fact lots of the characters written as very backward-looking males have become female characters, and they've been empowered. The charm of the voice has been maintained and the sketchier elements deleted." But Wenham found reading the Les Norton books troubling. "It was a bit of a chore, because although there's great humour and they're wonderful source material, there's a whole heap of stuff that, to put it bluntly, is offensive these days. So the creators have done a pretty fine job taking the jewels out of the piece and letting the rest slide by."
