The series was created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, the writing duo best known for Father Ted, though the actual scripts were written by Mathews alone.

It starred Simon Pegg, Sally Phillips, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Darren Boyd, and was set in 1969 during the 'Swinging Sixties', following the editor of a counterculture magazine called Mouth, a parody of real underground publications Oz and International Times.

Being the immediate follow-up to the hugely successful Father Ted, the show received significant pre-release hype, which led viewers to feel let down when the series did not meet their expectations.

The series was generally badly received by critics upon release but has since gained a cult following.

A second series was commissioned but was ultimately never made after Mathews was discouraged by the negative critical reaction to the first series.

Despite airing on BBC 2, Hippies has never been repeated on any terrestrial BBC channel, though it has been shown on Paramount Comedy 2, the now-defunct Play UK, and Gold, and it also aired in the United States on BBC America in 2000.