Sergeant Goodfellow and Father Brown discuss a letter from a theatre manager Val Parnell. Val Parnell was a producer and actor known for such programs as Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1955) and The London Palladium Show (1966).
The holiday camp Chummy's mirrors Maplins camp in the 1980's BBC comedy Hi-de-Hi! (1980) with many similar characterisations. The Radio Maplin Announcer Gladys Pugh for Majorie Chummy, Ted Bovis, Camp Host for Griff Grimshaw, Spike Dixon, Camp Comic for Sandy Beauchamp, William Partridge the Children's Entertainer for Jock McCudgeon and Peggy Ollerenshaw the desperate Chalet Maid who yearns to be a yellowcoat for Mavis Jug who wants to be an orangecoat.