In 2018, while giving a lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Michaela revealed the series was inspired by a real-life traumatic event. She recounted a time when she regained consciousness after a night out with a friend and realized she’d been raped. This happened while she was writing her first show Chewing Gum.

“I was working overnight in the company’s offices,” Michaela said. “I had an episode due at 7 a.m. I took a break and had a drink with a good friend who was nearby. I emerged into consciousness typing season two, many hours later. I was lucky—I had a flashback. It turned out I had been sexually assaulted by strangers.”