The title reference comes from the First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 4, 1933: "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear... is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror..."
Meg Wyllie plays a stewardess in this episode would later appear in three other episodes as different characters.
Rose's aunt and uncle both died within the same month (October '87).