This is the only movie sequel that Lee Marvin ever appeared in. His character Major John Reisman did not appear in the next two "Dirty Dozen" TV movie sequels, The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987) and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988). His character was replaced by Major Wright played by Telly Savalas. Savalas had appeared in the original The Dirty Dozen (1967) movie as Archer Maggott where his character was killed-off.
Lee Marvin was 60 when he played Major Reisman in this TV sequel to The Dirty Dozen (1967), which was made when he was 42. However the story is only set a few months after the original film was set.
Television movie debut for Lee Marvin. This is despite appearing in a number of television series episodes and the movie The Killers (1964). According to the book, Movies Made for Television, The Killers (1964) was originally made for television but ended up being released theatrically because it was thought to be too violent for TV.
Ernest Borgnine is the only actor from the original The Dirty Dozen (1967) movie to appear in all four "Dirty Dozen" movies [See: The Dirty Dozen (1967) ; The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) ; The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987) and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988)].
This is the only one of the "Dirty Dozen" series (i.e. the original The Dirty Dozen (1967) movie and its three television sequels) that doesn't feature Telly Savalas.