- Creative Differences: The serial's original ending was the final straw between John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward. Nathan-Turner felt ending the season with the Doctor and the Valeyard falling down an abyss as they struggle would give Michael Grade the excuse he needed to cancel the series, while Saward felt that it wouldn't make any difference, as Grade would cancel the series if and when he chose. Out of his respect for the recently-departed Robert Holmes, Saward refused to change the ending and promptly resigned as script editor, requiring Pip and Jane Baker to brought in to write a whole new finale.
- Creator Backlash: Nicola Bryant was pleased with Peri's death in "Mindwarp", as it was such an unusually dramatic exit for a companion. She was unaware that John Nathan-Turner later got cold feet about killing her off and retconned her survival in to this story, and wasn't pleased to hear the character's death was undone. Colin Baker joked it may've been his fault why it happened.
- Creator's Favorite Episode: Despite the turbulent circumstances of its making, Colin Baker described this serial as a personal favorite of his, stating that it was the kind of story he'd always wanted as the Doctor. His only major complaint was the fact that, due to his firing, his last words as the Doctor (at least on TV) were "carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice," riffing on the silliness of the line.
- Creator's Pest: Eric Saward really didn't like Mel as a character, and so when fleshing out Robert Holmes' incomplete draft of the first half of this story, made sure to minimize Mel's role in the plot and had Glitz effectively act as the Doctor's companion during his journey into the Matrix. As soon as Pip and Jane Baker took over the writing duties for the second half of the story, they revealed Glitz to have been Evil All Along and put Mel back into the traditional companion's role.
- Died During Production: Robert Holmes only managed to complete a rough draft of the first episode and a basic outline of the second before his death, leaving Eric Saward to have to scramble together to complete Holmes' work and turn it into something usable. However, John Nathan-Turner, pretty much rejected Holmes' planned ending (which featured the Doctor and the Valeyard [or the Master] falling through a "time vent", with no way out) as being too risky, given that the show was hanging by a thread and that said ending would give The BBC the excuse to cancel the series. As a result, Saward quit the show in protest, and legal complications meant that the writers who eventually took on the job (Pip and Jane Baker) weren't allowed to be told how Holmes and Saward had planned to conclude the story. Thankfully, the Bakers managed to do enough to help keep the series running for some time afterward, and even when the series was finally taken off the air by the BBC in 1989, it didn't prove to be permanent (though for most people, a 16-year wait can feel pretty permanent when one isn't able to see the future).
- Executive Meddling:
- Robert Holmes, veteran screenwriter of the series since the Second Doctor era, was scheduled to write the final two-part story of "Trial". But Holmes suddenly took deathly ill and passed away having only completed one of the two episodes. Then, after Holmes passed away, script editor Eric Saward turned in a final script that kept the original plot; in this ending, the Doctor and Valeyard are left tumbling through the Matrix, fighting to the death. note Producer John Nathan-Turner rightly felt this could give the BBC the excuse they needed to axe the program. Saward then resigned and refused permission for his script to be used. As such, the televised version of the final episode was written by Pip and Jane Baker in a matter of days, without being allowed to know anything about the originally intended version. It's nothing less than a miracle that this serial was even finished. The only similarity is the High Council of Time Lords being deposed offscreen, which had been decided upon by Turner before the scriptwriting process.
- The first edit of the last episode ran to some 38 minutes; Nathan-Turner managed to get permission to extend the running time to 30 minutes, but still had to make it up by cutting out large amounts of material featuring the Master and Glitz.
- Recycled Script: Much like how "The Mysterious Planet" repeated the plot of "The Krotons", "The Ultimate Foe" loosely reprises the plot of "The Deadly Assassin". The Doctor has been brought to Gallifrey and is put on a sham trial for a crime he didn't commit, which turns out to be the result of a renegade Time Lord with a personal connection to him tampering with the seemingly infallible Matrix and conspiring with Gallifreyan politicians to achieve power and prolong his life (the Valeyard acting as a Composite Character of both Chancellor Goth and the Peter Pratt version of the Master). The Doctor chases him into the Matrix, where, despite being at a huge disadvantage, he defeats him in a battle of wits and walks away a free man, but not before the renegade escapes and sneaks off to cause more mayhem.
- Technology Marches On: The idea that a "megabyte modem" is impressive. Since it's not clear exactly what it means even in context (and even if it did make sense, all it would be is a landline that moves a a not-exactly-impressive speed for the present day), it's also an example of gratuitous Techno Babble.
- Troubled Production: Robert Holmes died before he could finish the final episode, which was completed by Eric Saward. John Nathan-Turner changed his mind on the original ambiguous ending, as he felt it would have given the BBC the excuse they needed to cancel the series. This prompted Saward, whose relationship with JNT had deteriorated by this point, to resign as script editor and withdraw permission to use his version of episode 14.note Pip and Jane Baker were brought in (as Nathan-Turner knew they could write quickly), but for legal reasons, they weren't allowed to see Saward's script,note and had to write a completely new conclusion following on from the end of Episode 13.
- Uncredited Role: Because Eric Saward walked out on the show following a spat with John Nathan-Turner over the planned ending to this serial, Nathan-Turner had to perform script editing duties on the final episode himself (as was also the case with "Terror of the Vervoids"). Because BBC guidelines prevented Nathan-Turner from taking credit as both script editor and producer, the former position goes unlisted in the closing credits. Andrew Cartmel would eventually be hired to fill the void left by Saward starting with the next story.
- What Could Have Been: Eric Saward's original version of Episode 14, written from Robert Holmes' outline, was completely different from the transmitted version. It ended on a cliffhanger, with the Doctor and the Valeyard being sucked into a time vent in the Matrix, from which there was apparently no escape. Pip and Jane Baker were not allowed to read, or even know anything about this version when they wrote their transmitted version.
- Working Title: Time Inc., The Fantasy Factory.
- Writer Revolt: The story contains a barely subtextual Take That! at the derailing Executive Meddling the show was undergoing, in the form of the Obstructive Bureaucrat of the Fantasy Factory.
- You Look Familiar: James Bree (the Keeper of the Matrix) had previously played the Security Chief and Nefred.
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