In August 2011, it was announced that Dame Eileen Atkins (Lady Maud Holland) had decided not to appear in the next season because she was unhappy with the direction the new scripts were taking.
Unlike the real Eaton Place, the street in Leamington Spa where the Eaton Place exteriors were filmed has houses on one side of the street only (there is a small park on the facing side). For this reason, most shots have to be carefully framed to show one side of the street only. The occasional wide establishing shot is blended in post production with a reverse angle shot of the same row of houses so that the street appears to have houses on both sides.
Bird motifs were used throughout the 2010 season in the costumes, paintings decorating the sets, and on china and wallpaper patterns, to echo the bird theme employed in the three episode titles: "The Fledgling", "The Ladybird", and "The Cuckoo".
This show was nominated for six Primetime Emmy awards in 2011.
The second season of six episodes began on February 19, 2012, with an audience of 7.78 million, but by the time it ended on March 25, the viewing figures had dropped to 5.22 million.