The series was produced by Kudos and by Thriker Films, the production company of star Kit Harington, and was developed by Ronan Bennett, Kit Harington, and Daniel West, with Bennett writing the scripts.

Kit Harington, who plays Robert Catesby, is in real life a direct descendant of the historical Catesby he portrays in the series.

Filming began in late February 2017 and took place at numerous historic National Trust properties and visitor attractions, including East Riddlesden Hall, Fountains Abbey, Oakwell Hall, Ripley Castle, Haddon Hall, Kirkstall Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Lendal Bridge in York, and Ilkley Moor.

Beverley Minster was used as a filming location to depict the regal splendour of the Palace of Westminster.

The series holds a 72% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 25 reviews and a score of 63 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating generally favourable reviews.

The broadcast of the first episode sparked viewer complaints about graphic scenes of torture, nudity, and disembowelment, even though it aired 10 minutes after the 9pm watershed; the BBC defended the content as grounded in historical fact.