Paul Darrow felt undermined by Colin Baker's bombastic acting in this episode. When they acted opposite each other in the Doctor Who (1963) serial "Timelash", Darrow retaliated by purposefully exaggerating his performance.
In an interview with Tony Atwood, Michael Keating said that he was watching the series with his daughter when she said, "Daddy, you're stupid!" Keating related this to Chris Boucher, inspiring the latter to write this episode, in which Vila becomes a hero.
Vere Lorrimer had thought Babyan the Butcher was the villain's villain and had directed The Brothers (1972), in which Colin Baker's character was the antagonist. He rang Baker and offered Baker the role of Bayban the Butcher. Baker agreed to take the role.
This is the first episode in which Cally is shown to personally kill someone, although she previously shot down a Terra Nostra gunship in Shadow (1979).