Author John Mortimer appears in a cameo as a theatregoer in the bar at the opera during the interval.
In "Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent", the title refers to a period of severe industrial unrest which began in December 1978, and which was dubbed "the Winter of Discontent" by the popular press. The period was associated with the fall of the Labour Government in May of 1979, which saw the rise to the office of Prime Minister of Margaret Thatcher.
Liz Probert says to Rumpole, "My Dad recommended you." Abigail McKern's real Dad is Rumpole himself, Leo McKern.