Screenwriter Sandy Welch began adapting Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel in 2001, making changes such as having the story begin and end with Margaret Hale travelling by train and adding a visit to the Great Exhibition of 1851, alterations she believed Gaskell herself would have made if not rushed by her editor Charles Dickens.

Daniela Denby-Ashe originally auditioned for the role of Fanny Thornton, not Margaret Hale, but the producers cast her as Margaret because of her directness, energy, charm, and the chemistry she showed with Richard Armitage.

Richard Armitage was the very first actor to read for the role of John Thornton, but despite impressing the producer and casting director immediately, the team auditioned many other actors before circling back three weeks later and realizing he was perfect for the part.

Although the fictional mill town of Milton was loosely based on Manchester, most of the town scenes were actually filmed in Edinburgh because it retained more of its Victorian industrial architecture.

The cotton mill's exterior was filmed at Dalton Mill in Keighley, while the interior mill scenes were shot at Helmshore Textile Museum in Rossendale and Queen Street Mill near Burnley, Lancashire.

The Great Exhibition scene was filmed at Alexandra Palace in North London, while all interior scenes were shot at Ealing Studios; the opening and closing train station scenes were filmed at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, with additional railway sequences shot in Yorkshire using carriages provided by the Vintage Carriages Trust.

Composer Martin Phipps wrote a short piano theme that recurs throughout the series in different rhythms, becoming especially prominent at key turning points in the relationship between Margaret and Thornton.

The BBC had low expectations for the series and barely publicised it, but after the first episode aired in November 2004 the show's official message board received so many visitors that it crashed and had to be shut down by host bbc.co.uk.

The surprise success of the series, attributed largely to Richard Armitage's portrayal of John Thornton, was compared to Colin Firth's breakout performance as Mr. Darcy in the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice, prompting the BBC to release the DVD on 11 April 2005.

In the BBC drama website's 2004 annual poll, North & South was voted Best Drama, with Richard Armitage winning Most Desirable Drama Star and Best Actor, Daniela Denby-Ashe winning Best Actress, and the final scene voted the year's top Favourite Moment.