John Pearson (Paul Freeman), on whose book this is based, was a biographer who had been an assistant to Ian Fleming and later wrote a biography of him and a fictional one of James Bond. Though he wrote books about the notorious gangsters, the Kray twins, most of his biographies were about nobles, the rich and the famous.
Dominick Elwes (played by Rupert Evans) was the father of actor Carey Elwes (best known for The Princess Bride).