Richard Attenborough (Jack Read) and Sheila Sim (Lynne Hartley) were married in real life from 1945 until his death in 2014.
Richard Attenborough (Jack Read) later directed Robert Flemyng (Nigel Lorraine) in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Der junge Löwe (1972) and Shadowlands - Ein Geschenk des Augenblicks (1993).
The film takes place from September 1942 to July 1946.
The use of the word "arse" by Jack Read (Richard Attenborough) presented an issue for the U.K. censors, as profanity in films was frowned upon at the time. Eventually the censors relented on the grounds that this was a drama about the working and middle classes, and the scene was left in. This paved the way for realistic language including mild profanity in future U.K. dramatic movies.