As this was broadcast several months after the rest of the seventh season, it was rumored that the BBC were worried about the violence in the play and that disagreements had arisen about censorship. This was inaccurate however, with the delay caused by a BBC strike in 1984. The episode had been booked into the studio in February and March 1984, but the strike meant it could not shoot. When the strike ended, the studio could not be used as it was being used by another production, and then when the studio became available, the RSC was using Trevor Peacock. Thus filming did not take place until February 1985, a year later than planned.
Initially, Director Jane Howell toyed with the idea of setting the play in a contemporary Northern Ireland, but she ultimately settled on a more conventional approach.
All of the body parts seen throughout were based upon real autopsy photographs, and were authenticated by the Royal College of Surgeons.
The costumes of the Goths were based on punk outfits, with Chiron (Michael Crompton) and Demetrius (Neil McCaul) specifically based on KISS.
In an unusual design choice, Director Jane Howell had the Roman populace all wear identical generic masks without mouths, so as to convey the idea that the Roman people were faceless and voiceless, as she felt the play depicted a society which "seemed like a society where everyone was faceless except for those in power." In the opening scene, as the former Emperor's body is carried out, only Saturninus (Brian Protheroe) and Bassianus (Nicholas Gecks) take their masks away from their faces, no one else, and they do so only to glare at one another.