The series was intended as a literal retelling of the Nazi takeover of various countries, and the resistance movement against them. However, because of the popularity of the "Star Wars" saga and other science fiction hits, as well as the belief among network executives that U.S. citizens would not believe a fascist takeover, the network executives had the producers change it to a science fiction miniseries. Other ideas were also discussed, but discarded.
On the night of October 30, 1982, Dominique Dunne, who had been signed to play the role of Robin Maxwell, was at her West Hollywood home with co-star David Packer. The two were going over lines for the next day's filming when Dunne's estranged ex-boyfriend, Ma Maison sous chef John Sweeny, arrived unexpectedly in an effort to reconcile. Dunne had ended the relationship due to Sweeney's physical and emotional abuse. Shortly after Dunne stepped outside to talk to Sweeny, they began to argue and Sweeny strangled Dunne. Dunne would die of her injuries five days later, on November 4. Blair Tefkin was cast to replace Dunne as Robin, and all of the scenes that had been shot with the late actress were re-filmed. According to the DVD commentary, however, Dunne is still visible from the back in one group scene that occurs as the Visitors arrive on Earth.
In a massive media campaign before the V (1984) series aired, posters with the line "The Visitors Are Our Friends" appeared in subways around the United States - just as they did in the first part of the miniseries. Several days before Liberation Day (1984) aired, each poster was spray-painted with a bright red "V" exactly as was done in the show.
The laser effects cost one thousand dollars each. The high cost was due to the lengthy post-production work of manually adding optical effects to the film.
It is hinted that the Visitors are engaged in a war with another alien species, but this idea is never developed further. In 2008, V creator Kenneth Johnson published the novel V: The Second Generation which takes place 25 years after the original miniseries (though ignores the events depicted in V: The Final Battle (1984) and V (1984), neither of which Johnson was involved with). In the novel, the Visitors' enemy are a race called the Zedti, who ultimately come to Earth at humanity's request but turn out to be even worse than the Visitors are.