Russell had been interested in Byron and Shelley's meeting for a decade. He said "About 10 years ago, Robert Powell, the actor, approached me with a script covering the same time span and events. But we couldn't raise the money. I think it was a little too poetic and not as scary as it might have been." Russell say "Gothic" as "a sort of black comedy; some of the others have been slightly more serious. This has deliberate comic overtones - sort of a satire."