The miniseries was developed by David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson, adapted from Sarah Vaughan's novel of the same name, with Netflix greenlighting the project in May 2020.

S. J. Clarkson was set to direct all six episodes of the series.

Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery, and Rupert Friend were cast in September 2020, with Naomi Scott joining in December and Ben Radcliffe added to a recurring role in January 2021.

Filming began in October 2020 at Shepperton Studios, with additional shooting at St. George's Hanover Square Primary School in Mayfair, London, and further production taking place in Oxford in February 2021.

On Rotten Tomatoes the series holds a 60% approval rating with an average score of 5.9/10 based on 42 critic reviews, while Metacritic gave it 52 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'.

The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus notes that the show 'has the bones of a good David E. Kelley potboiler but lacks the connective tissue to really work, although the starry cast provides an intrigue all its own.'

Anatomy of a Scandal spent five weeks in Netflix's Global Top 10 of most-watched English language series, reaching the number one position in its second week.