Following remarks by the Duke of Edinburgh that he and the Queen had thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast, the live repeat that was broadcast four days later attracted the largest television audience since the Coronation.
When first screened by the BBC there were numerous public complaints and these led to questions being asked in the House of Commons
Donald Pleasance would later also appear as Parsons in the 1956 film version by Michael Anderson and as SEN in the very Orwellian 'THX 1138' (1971) by George Lucas.
The play was first transmitted on Dec 12th 1954 then repeated live on Dec 16th. This second transmission was telerecorded (filmed as broadcast) and is the version which survives. However the repeat nearly did not happen due to the hysterical reaction from some newspapers to the "horrific" and "subversive" nature of the play. Fortunately the BBC did not cave in and the re-staging went ahead as planned, but only after a narrow vote in favour by their Board of Governors.
The incidental music was played live from an adjacent studio by an orchestra conducted by the composer John Hotchkis, rather than being prerecorded and played in as the play was transmitted.