The original broadcast in 1969 was preceded by a 6 minute introduction by Pollo Hamburger featuring the art of painter Jeroen Bosch.
The painting Jeroen Bosch is supposed to have made for duke Philip the Fair is fictional, but in close-up, parts of several different paintings of Bosch are shown, except for the titular hairy devil. The painting of the peddler does exist, although it also known as called The Prodigal Son or The Wayfarer, since the actual meaning of the symbolism is quite debatable.
Shooting on this installment commenced on July 15th, 1968 at the Loosdrechtse Plassen with scenes involving Hans Boskamp as Lange Pier. This was the first day of production on the entire series.
The wayfarer, or traveling salesman, is named Simon Heijnszoon. Writer Gerard Soeteman came up with this name by combining those of two Dutch supermarket chains: "Simon de Wit" and "Albert Heijn".
Filips de Schone (Philip the Handsome) lived from 22 July 1478 to 25 September 1506 and was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506 and the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a brief time in 1506.