Sir Giles Lynchwood was played by George Cole, with Geraldine James as Lady Maud, Julia McKenzie as Mrs Forthby, David Suchet as Blott, Paul Brooke as Mr Hoskins, Clare Grogan as the receptionist at the Handyman Arms hotel, Simon Cadell as Mr Dundridge, Geoffrey Chater as the Government Minister, Jeremy Clyde as his private secretary Densher, Geoffrey Bayldon as local solicitor Mr Ganglion and Georgine Anderson as Mrs. Bullett-Finch.

[2] Deddington in Oxfordshire was the filming location for the village of Guildstead Carbonell, where two mock buildings were built in the market place, one of which was demolished in the show.

Sir Giles is seen drawing the proposed motorway route on his Ordnance Survey road atlas - the page is that of south Shropshire/Herefordshire, but with a few minor amendments made showing names of places used in the book and TV series (for instance, "Worford"- a cross between Worcester and Hereford - instead of "Ludlow").

Because the series was set ten years later than the book, Blott would have been too young to have served in World War II, so the flashbacks reveal that he was an incompetent Eastern European soldier who was accidentally carried across Iron Curtain by a balloon, and then taken to England by Lady Maud's father.

The DVD version (Regions 2+4 Pal UK) was released in 2005 by BBC Worldwide, with a running time of approximately 320 minutes.