Peter Sellers’ final film, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, was overshadowed by a hostile working relationship between Sellers and its director, Piers Haggard. Haggard said Sellers repeatedly insulted him during production, contributing to a strained atmosphere and making the comedy’s troubled creation more notable than its eventual reception.

Released in 1980, the film cast Sellers as both Fu Manchu and Inspector Nayland Smith, marking his last cinema role before his death later that year aged 54. Haggard recalled that he and Sellers were “at loggerheads”, with the actor directing “filthy insults” at him; the film was poorly received and is widely regarded as an unsuccessful end to Sellers’ film career.