The title is a play on "bread and circuses", a metonymic from ancient Rome criticising politicians' practices of giving out free wheat and putting on tawdry entertainment to secure the votes of the poor (and criticising the Roman people for being more interested in immediate pleasures than political involvement).
Greg Stone, who played Mr Sheridan the magician in this episode, also played Chief Inspector Percy Sparrow in all 4 episodes of Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries (2019)
John Wood (Mr. Jones) and Joel Tobeck (Senior Sergeant Grossmith) also appear together in The Doctor Blake Mysteries television program.