 Special permission was granted for location footage to be taken inside The Globe Theatre in Southwark which had to be fitted out with specially fireproofed straw.
Doctor Who became the first television drama to be granted permission to film at the Globe Theatre, although a requirement of this deal was that recording could only take place at night; Gareth Roberts' scripts were duly revised to reflect this.
The Globe Theatre was completed in 1997 and its recreation, from the original Globe theatre that was destroyed by fire in 1613 (and rebuilt in 1614, only to be closed by the Puritans in 1642 and torn down in 1644), was instigated by the late Sam Wanamaker. Sam was the father of Zoë Wanamaker, who played Lady Cassandra in "The End of the World" and "New Earth".
Shakespeare scholars have speculated for centuries about 'Love's Labour's Won'. Some claim it was indeed a sequel to 'Love's Labour's Lost'; others that it still exists, and that it's another name for 'The Taming of the Shrew'.
Material involving Queen Elizabeth I, was written into the story at Russell T Davies' request, inspired by an element of Gareth Roberts' Sixth Doctor audio story "The One Doctor", co-written with Clayton Hickman that was released in 2001 by Big Finish Productions.
Both William Shakespeare and Elizabeth I have appeared in Doctor Who before; in the 1965 story "The Chase", the First Doctor saw Shakespeare, on The Time Space Visualiser, being given the idea to write Hamlet by the Queen.
The Doctor has always been a huge fan of the Bard, and has a particular fondness for quoting Hamlet. Notable instances include addressing a skull in "Image of the Fendahl" - 'Alas, Poor Skull!', deciding to 'Go softly on!' in "Castrovalva" and wishing 'Good-night, sweet prince' to a dying comrade in "The Two Doctors". Perhaps one of the reasons The Doctor loves Hamlet so much is that in "City of Death" he claims to have helped William Shakespeare write it, after Shakespeare sprained his wrist writing sonnets!
The end of this story contains a trailer for the next story "Gridlock".
Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the second chapter of the third series of Doctor Who Confidential, "Stage Fright" presented by Anthony Head.
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The Firsts: The first trip in the TARDIS for new companion Martha Jones played by Freema Agyeman.
The first television drama to be granted permission to film at the Globe Theatre, London.
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Gareth Roberts.
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(Position = 64 out of 200)
