Working titles for this story included "Doctor Who and the Gift", "The Friendly Invasion", "The Axons", and "The Vampire from Space". The last title was used through the production of the first two episodes and was only changed by the time filming began on the third. The DVD release contains unused footage and cuts from the story that are packaged with the original title sequence—naming the story as "The Vampire from Space". The serial was envisaged to be a six-parter, but the concept of the storyline changed as development progressed.