Percy Toplis was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, on August 22, 1896 and died, shot dead while on the run, on June 6, 1920. Accused of murder, he was the first person in modern English history to be found guilty in his absence by inquest. He had his tongue cut out before burial, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Penrith's Beacon Edge Cemetery on June 9.
This mini-series was never repeated by the BBC.
The BBC was criticized for advertising it as a true story, when it was mostly fiction. According to his 2013 obituary, this was cited by The Guardian as a contributing factor, as well as a series of other editorial controversies, which led to the forced resignation of Director-General Alasdair Milne in January 1987.
This serial/mini series was a political hot potato for the BBC so much so that it not only the then Director General Sir Alistair Milne was sacked/forced to resign, it was also banned from repeat transmission and also the BBC never released it on video on their in house BBC Video label the result that the series was not released on video until 1999 not by the BBC themselves but by Acorn Video under licence from BBC Worldwide and was later released on DVD in 2007.