This was the first Ultra Series produced in Japan's Heisei-era (1989-2019).
This was the first live-action Ultra Series produced outside of Japan.
In 1988, when the Ultra Series had experienced a revival (thanks to merchandise and reruns of the classic TV shows), Tsuburaya Productions had planned to produce "Zoku Urutoraman" ("Ultraman Continues"), a new TV series, which was a direct continuation of the original Ultraman: A Special Effects Fantasy Series (1966) TV series (wherein all of the original actors would reprise their roles, and Hayata would find and mentor a new successor to the Beta Capsule). The planned series was based upon an unfilmed 1969 scenario suggested by Eiji Tsuburaya, but due to Eiji's passing in 1970, the project later became Return of Ultraman (1971). However, overseas deals halted production, and Tsuburaya eventually reached a deal with the South Australian Film Commission, resulting in in the production of this series. Although produced primarily for international markets (especially the United States), it premiered as a direct-to-video release in Japan (it later officially aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System in 1995), and had not officially aired in its native Australia until years later.
Bandai's original designs for the "Hummer" jet vehicles were rejected by the South Australian Film Commission's staff, which said, "These will never work." So they did their own designs for the vehicle.
Before production, test footage was done with elaborate rubber puppets of Ultraman and Stage 1 Gudis (basically an entire enactment of the Mars sequence in Episode 1). While one shot of this footage was briefly seen in Episode 1 (the close-up of the motionless Gudis' face, which looked very different from that of the suit version used), this footage was included as an extra in the Japanese laserdisc release.