According to David Hemmings' autobiography, 'Blow Up and Other Exaggerations', he was first choice for the role of Uncle Henry but Ken Russell had to renege on the offer because the US film distributors did not want him. Bizarrely, Ken then cast Elton John in the role, before the singer got cold feet over wigs, costume and arduous acting lessons and asked to leave the project. The next choice was Alan Bates (who had played Birkin in the sequel, Women in Love (1969)) but he declined and the role went back to Hemmings.
In The Rainbow (1989) actress Glenda Jackson plays the mother of the character she played in Women in Love (1969). Both movies were directed by Ken Russell and both filmed adaptations of novels by D.H. Lawrence.
Sammi Davis said the hardest things to do were the nude scenes. "Paul McGann and I found ourselves on top of a mountain peak in the Lake District full of rock and brambles while stark naked. But, despite the discomfort, you feel like a little child running around naked in the rain. More people should try it," she said.
The dedication billed during the picture's closing credits states that the film is "In Memory of Marion Russell" who was the cousin of the film's director Ken Russell.
Many of the cast and crew totaling to around forty personnel who worked on this movie also were on set on director Ken Russell's previous picture The Lair of the White Worm (1988).