The chisel used at Door 10 in the film is the actual chisel used in the escape. Tim Jenkin had kept it through the years and lent it to the production.
Tim Jenkin, who took part in the escape and whose book "Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison" inspired the film, has a cameo in the film as a prisoner.
Despite having to conflate some characters and elements of the story to fit into 105 minutes screen time, the team were keen to ensure authenticity where possible in the story telling. Tim Jenkin's on-set comment that some major scenes were 'almost exactly how it actually happened' was therefore a great encouragement.
In May 1980, the warden who had been on duty of the night of the escape, Sergeant Vermeulen, was put on trial for aiding in the escape of three prisoners. Stephen Lee, having first written to a newspaper explaining that Vermeulen played no part in the escape, upon request sent a sworn statement to Vermeulen's defence attorney stating his innocence. The combination of this and the many inconsistencies in Vermeulen's forced 'confession' led to his eventual acquittal.
Two South Australian jails portrayed the Pretoria Prison. They were the Redruth Gaol in Burra and the Old Adelaide Gaol in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. The Pretoria penitentiary interiors were shot at the Old Holden Car Factory at Elizabeth in South Australia.
Tim Jenkin: The real Tim Jenkin playing a fellow inmate in the film. He can be seen sitting alongside Daniel Radcliffe who is waiting for a visitor at 36m39s into the film.