The beach scene was filmed at Durdle Door in Dorset, a "world famous geological wonder" and a massive climb both down to the beach and back up again. Six tons of filming equipment was taken down to the beach by helicopter.
The location of the Brown's family house was just a huge muddy field covered in brambles. The crew had to bring in items and sets to build all of the village, the house, the tracks, the garden and the trees.
A scene in the funeral parlor of Cedric playing around with a dead body's mouth and tightening his jaw, was cut from the film because it proved to be too frightening for children.
Real food was thrown during the food fight scene.
Emma Thompson said that it took her nine years to write this screenplay, while it took her only five years to write Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won an Oscar.
The voice of Mrs Partridge, proprietor of the agency to which Mr Brown repairs for a new nanny ("There's no more nannies! You've 'ad the lot!"), is provided by actress Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson's mother.
It took 5 years for Emma Thompson and her partner Lindsay Doran to look for the source material. At that time of scouting, the books were already out of print. This explained the reason that it took nine years to make this movie.
Originally entitled "Nurse Mathilda", Emma Thompson, who also wrote the script changed it to the current title fearing that people would associate the original title as her "Nurse Project". The name McPhee was suggested by her mother, Phyllida Law.
Make-up designer Peter King designed the final look of the main character at the first attempt - a rare occasion for makeup designers as they would design many make-ups before the selection.