Christopher H. Bidmead, a keen computer enthusiast, used many ideas from computer science in developing the story, with elements such as the Monitor, block transfers, and registers all being derived from terminology in computer architecture. Eager to inject Doctor Who with real scientific notions, Bidmead also drew upon the physics discipline of thermodynamics, making heavy use of the concept of entropy: the measure of unavailable energy in a system, which effectively increases as a system becomes homogeneous. Another starting point was Nathan-Turner's observation that a real police box still stood on the Barnet bypass in London. Bidmead was fascinated with the TARDIS, and wanted to explore its properties more fully.
Although the Tegan character is introduced and is always identified throughout her time on Doctor Who as a stewardess, in fact she only just finished her training and was to begin her first actual day on the job when she was sidetracked onto the TARDIS.
This story is the first to feature a human companion since Leela left the Doctor in The Invasion of Time: Part Six (1978), and the first to feature one from contemporary Earth since Sarah Jane Smith's departure in The Hand of Fear: Part Four (1976).
Logopolis comes from two ancient Greek words and means "city of speech," alluding to the oral calculations recited by the Logopolitans.
Fans voted this number 25 in a countdown of the 163 Doctor Who (1963) stories in Outpost Gallifrey's 40th anniversary poll in 2003.