Creator Allan Cubitt got the idea for the show while researching a different project and reading a book about BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, whose structure inspired him to reveal the killer's identity immediately rather than build a whodunit.

Cubitt was interested in exploring how a seemingly normal, functioning person with a job, wife and children could be connected to horrific crimes, which became the psychological focus of the series.

For the first series, Gillian Anderson was cast before Jamie Dornan; Anderson later became an executive producer starting from series two.

Jakob Verbruggen directed the first series, but for series two Allan Cubitt himself took over directing duties, with production beginning in February 2014.

Filming for the third series took place in Belfast between December 2015 and April 2016.

Cubitt named many characters after guitar manufacturing brands, including Stella, Gibson, Spector, Benedetto, Brawley, Breedlove, Burns, Eastwood, Hagstrom, Martin, Paul Reed Smith, Rick Turner, Stagg and Tom Anderson.

Fiona Apple's 2020 album Fetch the Bolt Cutters is named after a line spoken in the show.

In Germany the series was retitled Tod in Belfast ("Death in Belfast") and the first two seasons were re-edited into six 90-minute episodes, cutting about 120 minutes of footage from the original material.

The show drew criticism for its depiction of violence against women, with The Guardian's Rachel Cooke calling it "misogyny in a veil of classiness" and actress Doon Mackichan citing it as an example of "crime porn".

A French remake titled Insoupçonnable was produced by TF1, starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Melvil Poupaud, with filming beginning in Lyon in September 2016.