Benedict Cumberbatch is the first actor ever to play Stephen Hawking on screen in this film. He is also good friends with Eddie Redmayne, who played Hawking in the biopic The Theory of Everything (2014).
Adam Godley, who plays Stephen's father, also plays the doctor who diagnoses Stephen in The Theory of Everything (2014).
It was nominated for Best Single Drama in the BAFTA TV Awards in 2005. Cumberbatch won the Golden Nymph for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Film or Miniseries, and received his first nomination for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor.
The program was nominated by the British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama in 2005.