St Katherine's Convent was the filming location for the Gambit Hotel in this episode it was previously used in Talking to the dead as the Pines Hospital and Devingtin Hall in Master Class.
The chess move the Sicilian Defence which this episode is called is a fairly common opening move by a white player where the pawn directly in front of the king moves two spaces forward. There are four variations depending on how the black player responds.
Cheryl Campbell plays Vivian Stannington in this episode. She previously played the role of Sandra MacKillop in episode 3.4, Beyond the Grave (2000).
Sarah Barnaby, played by Fiona Dolman, dons a sombrero and does an impression of Clint Eastwood from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".
The Farmer House was used in The Indelible Stain (2012), approximately 7 months previously to the filming of this episode of Midsomer Murders.