 Victoria Wood also indicated this influenced her decision to limit "Dinnerladies" to 16 episodes over two series.The origins, background and eventual cancellation of the series would later be humorously referenced in 1987's "The Secret Policeman's Third Ball" in a sketch in which Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry present Cleese — whom they comically misname "Jim Cleese" — with a Dick Emery Lifetime Achievement Award ("Silver Dick") for his contributions to comedy, then launch into a comical series of questions regarding the show, including Cleese's marriage and divorce from Booth, innocently ridiculing Cleese and reducing him to tears, to a point at which he gets on his knees and crawls off the stage while crying.The second series was transmitted three-and-a-half years later, with the first episode being broadcast on 19 February 1979.