It is considered the earliest police procedural to be shown on British TV, sharing many points of commonality with the U.S. series Dragnet which had gone on air in 1951.

No other cast member featured in more than six episodes, as the particular skills of their character were called on to assist in a case germane to their speciality, such as the laboratory expert, the psychiatrist, the pathologist or the graphologist.

There were guest appearances from well-known actors such as Kathleen Byron, Elspet Gray, Kieron Moore and Michael Craig, but for the most part the cast consisted of relative unknowns.

Fabian of the Yard was one of the earliest BBC-shown British drama series to be shot entirely on film rather than broadcast live, with each episode featuring voiceover narration from Seton.

Many of the cases featured had made national headlines in their day, such as "Little Girl", based on the murder of an East London schoolgirl which had shocked the country in 1939.