The series is based on John Preston's 2016 book of the same name, dramatising the real-life 1976–1979 Thorpe affair and the 18 years of events leading up to it.

The show's success led producers to create a follow-up anthology series, A Very British Scandal (2021), about the Argyll divorce case, and later A Very Royal Scandal, based on Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitlis.

Hugh Grant was already cast as Jeremy Thorpe when the BBC drama was first announced on 4 May 2017, with Ben Whishaw joining the cast as Norman Scott the following August.

Manchester Town Hall, built in the same Gothic Revival style as the Palace of Westminster, was used to represent the inner courts, hallways and staircase of the Houses of Parliament.

Bulstrode Park, a vacant country house in Buckinghamshire, was used both as the offices of Thorpe and other MPs and as the location for the night-time assassination attempt scene set on Exmoor.

The town of Hertford stood in for 1970s Barnstaple, while Saunton Sands in North Devon doubled as the California beach where Peter Bessell lives in a seaside shack.

Bridgend in South Wales stood in for Dublin, and Norman's period living in Wales was filmed in and around Monknash in south Wales.

A Very English Scandal became the first production ever granted permission to film in Court One of the Old Bailey, but the team had to decline due to tight time restrictions and instead filmed the court scenes at a courthouse in Kingston upon Thames; the show did still film in the Old Bailey's lobby and exterior.

Norman Scott, the real-life figure portrayed in the series, criticised the show's characterisation of him, saying it wasn't his story and that he was wrongly depicted as a 'poor, mincing, little gay person' and a weakling.