This was Yorkshire Television's first adaptation of one of Reginald Hill's "Dalziel and Pascoe" books. Hill reportedly hated it so much that he refused to sanction any of his other books for TV adaptation and the BBC went to great lengths to persuade him otherwise. He said about the "A Pinch of Snuff" adaptation: "Hale and Pace wanted to try their hands at more dramatic roles. I just wish they'd tried it with someone else's books."