[1] It features an ensemble cast headlined by Damian Lewis and Sophia Myles and was directed by Stuart Orme.

The first episode features a fictionalised account of an actual event when three inmates Dick Lorraine, John 'Bosun' Crisp, and the 'Medium Sized Man', Flt Lt Dominic Bruce OBE MC AFM KSG MA RAF attempted to escape using the castle sewers.

Just before the order was to be given, Bruce lost his temper and approached the officer in charge, Eggers, saying "you can shoot us, but after the war we'll hang you".

An account of this escape can be found in Reel Five of the oral history version given by Flt.

[6][7] In 2006, it won the BAFTA Television Craft Award for best sound design in a fiction or entertainment.