This film also reunites Edward Fox with Vanessa Redgrave since their previous film Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). There is a gap of twenty-six years between the two films.
Miss Beaumont's name means 'beautiful mountain'. This is in reference to the considerable height difference between Beaumont (Uma Thurman) and Major Wilshaw (Edward Fox).
When Miss Bentley is listening to the BBC broadcast it reports a meeting between British prime minister Winston Churchill and German foreign minister Ribbentrop over German demands that, if not granted, would lead to war. Churchill did not become prime minister until after the war had begun; the prime minister before the war was Neville Chamberlain.