The second televised production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with Dame Helen Mirren in the cast, although this time in a different role (Titania). In the 1968 production, which was released to movie theatres in Europe, but premiered in the U.S. on CBS, Ms. Mirren played Hermia.
Elijah Moshinsky disliked productions which portrayed Puck as a mischievous but harmless and lovable sprite, so he had Phil Daniels play him as if he were an anti-establishment punk.
Jonathan Miller originally planned on directing this episode, with fairies inspired by the work of Inigo Jones and Hieronymus Bosch, but he ultimately directed Timon of Athens (1981) instead, after original director Michael Bogdanov quit that production.
Elijah Moshinsky based his fairies on the baroque eroticism of Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens; in particular Rembrandt's Danaë was used as the inspiration for Titania's (Dame Helen Mirren's) bed. A darker production than is usual for this play, Moshinsky referred to the style of the adaptation as "romantic realism".