Director Euros Lyn wanted to remove the scene where the Doctor visits Verity Newman, thinking it would be confusing for anyone who had missed the connection she has to the Doctor, but Russell T. Davies insisted on keeping the scene in the final cut.
The alien bar where Captain Jack is drinking was inspired by the cantina from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). It is also based on the original concept for The Shadow Proclamation in The Stolen Earth (2008).
The Tenth Doctor is shown looking in on all of the companions that appeared during his tenure before he regenerates. In Death of the Doctor: Part 2 (2010), the Eleventh Doctor reveals that he didn't just visit the companions he had known as the Tenth Doctor, but every companion he had ever had.
The two Raxacoricofallapatorians at the bar are the new Slitheen costumes created for The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) rather than the old ones from season one. Notably, this was filmed before but broadcast after The Gift, where the Slitheen costumes were painted orange to serve as Blathereen.
The Eleventh Doctor was originally expected to have just a line. Steven Moffat took the opportunity to write a short monologue.