When Angela Baddeley went to Buckingham Palace to receive the C.B.E. (Commander of The British Empire) awarded to her in the Queen's 1975 New Year's Honour's List, she discovered that this was Queen Elizabeth's favorite television program and Mrs Bridges was her favorite character.
For each episode the cast had eight days' rehearsal outside the studio, in drafty halls, club gyms and even a rat-infested army barracks on King's Road, Chelsea. This was followed by two days in studio, one for technical rehearsals for camera and sound and fussing with their costumes and wigs, and one for taping. Some of the more scholarly members enjoyed reading vintage copies of the London Times chosen to coincide with the date of the script.
Several episodes from the first season are in black and white due to industrial action by the technician's union in a dispute over the introduction of colour TV cameras. The five B/W episodes premiered in 1971 but were omitted from reruns and were not to be seen again until the DVD era.
Although the series spans nearly three decades, its characters never age. The producer, John Hawkesworth, believed that the addition of ageing make-up and grey wigs would only get in the way of the stories.