A coconut shy is a traditional game frequently found as a side-stall at English fun-fairs. The game consists of throwing wooden balls at a row of coconuts balanced on posts. Typically a player buys three balls and wins each coconut successfully dislodged. In some cases other prizes may be won instead of the coconuts. The word "shy" in this context is an English term meaning to toss or throw.
Sadly, the final screen appearance of Anna Cropper and, both Vivian Pickles and Gordon Gostelow, who were married in real life from 1964 until Mr. Gostelow's death in 2007.
This is the first episode not to be directly based on a novel by Caroline Graham; her final two Barnaby novels, "A Place of Safety" and "A Ghost in the Machine", have never been adapted for television.
The episode's director, Jeremy Silberston, died of a brain tumor aged 55, which is exactly what kicks off the plot here, with the middle-aged 'Richard Bailey' character being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
During a conversation with the priest, there is reference to the Rainbirds who were characters in the first episode of the first season.