The series was announced in February 2020 as a co-production between BBC One and Stan, written by Harry and Jack Williams (creators of The Missing) and directed by Chris Sweeney, produced by Two Brothers Pictures.

Hugo Weaving was originally cast in the series alongside Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Alex Dimitriades in January 2021, but he was replaced by Damon Herriman just a week before filming began.

Filming for the first series began in March 2021 in South Australia, taking place in the regional towns of Port Augusta and Peterborough, the Flinders Ranges, and Adelaide, with principal photography wrapping in July 2021.

For series one, the production crew recreated Bali's Kuta Beach on Adelaide's North Haven Beach.

Series two, set in Ireland, began filming in April 2023 in Dublin, with additional shooting in Bray, Djouce and the Wicklow Mountains.

Upon release on BBC iPlayer, the first series drew an overall 18 million views, becoming the third most successful drama launch for the platform, and by March 2022 it was the most watched series on iPlayer.

The first episode was watched 6,428,000 times on iPlayer during 2022 alone, making it the third most viewed individual programme on the platform that year, and the show became the most-watched drama of 2022 in the UK.

In the US, the second series moved from HBO Max to Netflix after being dropped by Max, premiering there on 29 February 2024.