This episode was filmed in the village of Cuddington in Buckinghamshire, which was also used on location in the previous episodes Death of a Stranger (1999), Death and Dreams (2003) and Bad Tidings (2004). The building which appears as the "Monks' Retreat" is in fact the "Red Lion" in Little Missenden, which has previously appeared in Series 4 episodes Destroying Angel (2001) (as the "Red Lion") and Who Killed Cock Robin? (2001) (as the "White Swan").
A 'netsuke' is an ornate miniature Japanese sculpture, originally used as a fastener for an 'inro' box (a traditional case for holding objects, suspended from the obi [sash] worn around a man's kimono). After Japanese men stopped wearing them, the 'netsukes' continued to be carved for tourists and collectors.
An iron maiden is shown and described as a medieval torture device, but it is now accepted that there was, in fact, no such device--there is no evidence of the existence of iron maidens before the early 19th century. Professor Wolfgang Schild of Bielefeld University in Germany has argued that iron maidens were pieced together from orphaned artifacts in order to create interesting objects intended for commercial exhibition. Several of these 19th-century iron maidens are on display in museums around the world. The 19th-century iron maidens may have been inspired by actual objects, such as the medieval Schandmantel (in English, "coat of shame"), a wearable instrument of punishment made of wood and sheet metal, but without spikes. Inspiration for the iron maiden may also have come from surviving accounts of the execution of Roman consul Marcus Atilius Regulus, in 250 BCE, during the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. The Carthaginians reportedly "packed [Regulus] into a tight wooden box, spiked with sharp nails on all sides so that he could not lean in any direction without being pierced." Iron maidens also resemble the Apega of Nabis (also known as the Iron Apega), described by the ancient Greek historian Polybius as an ancient torture device similar to the iron maiden invented by Nabis, a king who ruled Sparta as a tyrant from 207 to 192 BCE.
Nether Winchendon House in Buckinghamshire, used as the location for Monks Barton Priory, has also been used as a location in earlier episodes Death in Disguise (1998) and Garden of Death (2000).
Over 10 series of Midsomer Murders (1997), neither Monks Barton Woods nor the village of Bow Clayton have ever previously featured or been mentioned.