Charlie Higson claims the BBC would have dropped The Fast Show after its first series if radio presenter John Peel had not been such a fan of it.
Talking to the Radio Times, he said: "It was John Peel's column. Peel was a big supporter of The Fast Show in it - that's why we got a second series."
The popular sketch show from the 1990s was the brainchild of Higson and Paul Whitehouse, and according to Higson, "it's unlikely that I'll have another show that had that impact".
He said he wishes they had gone on to do one more series of the show, but explained: "We could have fitted it in but we didn't really know what it was we were making, whether it was big and important or not.
"We thought we were going to do another million TV projects and the next one would be even better."
Higson also found success as the author of the Young Bond books, which have sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.
His next project is working on ITV series Jekyll And Hyde, as writer and executive producer.
"Steven Moffat really pulled off 'contemporary' with Sherlock," he said. "I'm not going to do it better than him. I could have gone steampunk, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes approach, but I'm bored of street-corner tarts saying, 'Do you fancy a good time?' and men in top hats."
His version will be set in the 1930s.
"It was quite a stylish time; it's recent enough that people can talk and behave in a modern manner, but it's far enough in the past that you can treat it as a sort of fantasy playground. And I can make it about Dr Jekyll's grandson, so there's a younger central character."
Jekyll And Hyde starts on ITV on Sunday October 25 at 6.30pm
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