The cast includes actors with previous associations to Sherlock Holmes. Nigel Stock, who played Professor Waxflatter, portrayed Dr. Watson alongside both Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing in the BBC series of the 1960s. Patrick Newell, who played Bentley Bobster, played both PC Benson in 1965's "A Study in Terror" as well as Inspector Lestrade in 1979's "Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson". Cast member Alan Cox's father, actor Brian Cox, would later have a connection as well: he would play Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Holmes, in the television film The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.