Heartbreak High originated from the 1987 stage play The Heartbreak Kid by Richard Barrett, which centred on a young Greek-Australian teacher having an affair with her student and explored ethnic tensions in Australian society.

The play was adapted into the 1993 film The Heartbreak Kid directed by Michael Jenkins, and Jenkins and producer Ben Gannon then developed Heartbreak High as a spin-off, reimagining the story in a Sydney setting with several cast members reprising their roles.

After being axed by Network Ten after two years, the show was saved when BBC2 provided funding for 26 more episodes, and it was later picked up and revived by the ABC.

The show was eventually cancelled after its seventh series because selling further seasons to foreign TV stations became increasingly difficult, and BBC2 declined to buy an additional series due to a scheduling backlog.

Alex Dimitriades left Heartbreak High due to a pay dispute with Network Ten; while the writers wanted his character Nick to quietly return to Greece, the network threatened to pull the show unless he was killed off in a dramatic boxing fight scene instead.

Alex Dimitriades makes an easter egg appearance in episode 206, where his character's photograph is shown in a portfolio to Drazic and Marco.

Corey Page left the show to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles after Network Ten axed it, and when the series was picked up by BBC2 he was unavailable to film his final scenes, so his character Steve was killed off offscreen.

Several actors, including Alex Dimitriades, Nico Lathouris, Doris Younane, Scott Major and Katherine Halliday, played early versions of their Heartbreak High characters in the 1993 film The Heartbreak Kid before the series began.

Nico Lathouris, who played George Poulos, also worked behind the scenes as the show's dramaturge until series six.

Subsequent seasons of the show beyond season three were never released on DVD due to music licensing issues, according to Umbrella Entertainment.