Director John Gorrie interpreted Twelfth Night as an English country house comedy, and incorporated influences ranging from Luigi Pirandello's play Il Gioco delle Parti to Upstairs, Downstairs (1971).
John Gorrie set the play during the English Civil War, hoping the use of cavaliers and roundheads would help focus the dramatisation of the conflict between festivity and Puritanism.
John Gorrie wanted the episode to be as realistic as possible, and in designing Olivia's house, he made sure that the geography of the building was practical, and shot the episode in such a way that the audience becomes aware of the logical geography, often shooting characters entering and existing doorways into rooms and corridors.
Part of the long running BBC Television Shakespeare project which ran between 1978 and 1985.
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