 Morphett originally wrote the story as a short story for the Adelaide Festival Literary Contest.It was written soon after the Federal Government introduced conscription for Vietnam, but Morphett says it is not “a propagandist play.” 

It was filmed in Sydney.The "Bulletin" TV critic said the "play kept wandering from prose poetry to plain Australian and back again, like a novice punter trying to pick a two-horse race without a form guide."