• Hey, It's That Guy!:
    • The actor who plays Richard also plays King Arthur's adoptive father in John Boorman's Excalibur.
    • It is was also pleasantly surprising to see him in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special.
      • Clive Swift had already appeared in an earlier Doctor Who story, Revelation of the Daleks, in 1985.
    • Patricia Routledge, the actress who plays Hyacinth, is an acclaimed stage actor in a variety of genres. But watching Hetty Wainthropp Investigates where she plays a very canny detective, can be most uncanny.
      • Especially since they seem to wear the same sorts of hats...
    • This also applies to Mary Millar, who played Madame Giry in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera and Mrs. Potts on the London cast of Beauty and The Beast.
  • I Am Not Spock: Routledge often shows signs of this in interviews given how she is a talented theatre actress and musician; however Swift is very much a straight example. In one interview to Doctor Who Magazine during his appearance in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, he is quoted as telling fans of the show to fuck off if they ask him so much as a question regarding his time as Richard.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: The show is often aired on PBS in the United States, and one PBS station invited Patricia Routledge over for a donation drive special. Reportedly the person that went to pick her up at the airport was terrified he'd wind up being henpecked to death, and was relieved when she was instead quite charming and easygoing.
  • Before marrying Onslow, Daisy was happily married to Santa Claus.