The events in this episode take place some time after 4 January 1967. In the opening title sequence, a character is shown watching a 16 mm film (as opposed to a live television report) of Donald Campbell's fatal power-boat crash which happened on this date while he was attempting to break the water speed record on Coniston Water.
Numerous references to The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
The exterior shots of the Belborough house are filmed at Minley Manor, Minley, Hampshire. From 1934-2015 this was used by the British Army, latterly as an officer's mess and headquarters by the Royal Engineers. It was sold in 2015.
The red car in Bixby's collection that Morse claims that he'd be more at home in is a 1967 Porsche 356. Also in the collection are a white 1960 Triumph TR3A; a silver 1964 Jaguar E-Type Coupe; and a black 1950's Triumph TR3. The car referred to by Bixby as "the new Klipspringer Continental" is a 1962 Austin Healy 3000 Mark II.
When Joss Bixby says "If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss" he is quoting two lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If".