Director Ferdinand Fairfax had previously worked with Martin Shaw on the TV series The Professionals (1977-81). Whilst he was unimpressed with Lewis Collins ego on that show, he was impressed by Shaw's acting range and desire to be offered more challenging material. So when he was asked to direct this miniseries he successfully lobbied the producers (who were considering Timothy Dalton among others) to meet Shaw. They too liked him and he was eventually offered the lead role.
The song that Olav Bjaaland (Ståle Bjørnhaug) sings when the Norwegian team breaks the "farthest south" record is "Nordmannen", also called "Millom Bakkar og Berg". The lyrics are by the Norwegian poet and linguist, Ivar Aasen (1813-1896), best known for developing the "landsmaal" written language from rural Norwegian dialects. The music is by Ludvig Lindeman (1812-1887).
This mini-series was the subject of savage attacks in the British right-wing press, even before it had begun transmission. It was claimed that it had depicted Captain Robert Falcon Scott, usually regarded as a national hero, as an irresponsible fool whose poor decisions had cost his own life and the lives of his men. The left-wing politics of writer Trevor Griffiths were roundly attacked in these reports. However, the series itself was generally well-received.