River's main costume in this story was deliberately designed to evoke both Princess Leia and Han Solo from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), so that she looked like, according to Toby Haynes, a "female Han Solo".
Some scenes were filmed at the real Stonehenge, Wiltshire. They could only afford to shoot during one night and spent the only hour of daylight in the morning shooting a three-minute dialogue sequence. The cast and crew had to abide by regulations; they were not allowed to touch the stones, bring heavy equipment in, and the lighting had to be done from the floor. Regardless, The Doctor and Amy appear to touch several of the rocks.
The cameos of Vincent Van Gogh, Winston Churchill and Liz X were filmed concurrently with their respective episodes. The first scene shot for the episode was the opening segment in which van Gogh's ominous painting was discovered.
When Dorium is negotiating with River Song, he presents her with a vortex manipulator he says was taken off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent. This is a nod to another handsome Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness.
The script referred to Underhenge as similar to a temple found in Indiana Jones. Toby Haynes actually played music from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to help the actors slow down as they explored the set to emphasise the awe in the scene as well as the "ghostly" and "haunted" feeling of the chamber. Karen Gillan found the music very useful.