The cast includes five Oscar nominees: Albert Finney, George Segal, Ian Holm, Anthony Quayle and Kristin Scott Thomas.
The central character, "Alec Hillsden" is named after the small-part actor George Hillsden, a long-time friend of director-writer Bryan Forbes.
The Alec Hillsden character has a very similar first name to Alex Lemus, the main character in John LeCarre's novel "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold."