This was Tim McInnerny's only appearance in the series. He declined a recurring role for fear of being typecast, but he did agree to a guest role.
The poem Baldrick recites is taken from the original novel.
The poem Baldrick recites ('They seek him here....') is taken from the original novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It is frequently cut from broadcasts due to copyright issues, which prevented the initial repeat broadcast of the entire episode on BBC2 in 1988.