With the plot featuring giant cockroaches and huge garbage world sets, it was considered too expensive to shoot. A new script was quickly written, taking another idea from that same novel, only the black hole was now changed to a white hole. Although Ed Bye is credited as having directed this episode he was actually unavailable due to illness. The show's producer, Paul Jackson, stepped in to cover the direction duties with a Christmas party hangover. Danny John-Jules, infamous for being late, thought it was a joke by crewmembers when he was told that Paul Jackson was directing, since Paul was known for his short temper and insistence on being punctual. He still turned up late, and as expected, enraged Jackson. According to Chris Barrie, Paul Jackson's presence alone caused the crew to suddenly double in size. Robert Llewellyn even commented on a soundman walking precariously along the gantry above the set, "risking life and limb," and various other crewmembers removing nails with their teeth and Naylor remarked that some carpenters were hammering in other nails with their heads, humorous references to the fear that Jackson struck into the hearts of the crew. The new super intelligent Holly was visioned as having a bald head and small spectacles. This was changed to just having her hair smoothed back. To film the new look Holly Hattie Hayridge was filmed in front of bluescreen wearing a blue polo-neck. This allowed her disembodied head to be superimposed to the episode footage. David Ross, the actor who originally played Kryten, returned to the show as the voice of Talkie Toaster. He found it a much simpler task than when he had previously endured the Kryten make-up. To play the Toaster required no rehearsals; he simply stood in front of a microphone and read the lines. Rimmer references Napoleon as the historical figure that he'd like to go back and work with. He also cites Captain Oates and Scott's diary when defending his cowardice to relinquish his life. The episode references the seminal science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, as both include an experimental techniques which increases the intelligence of the patient by reducing their life span. Direct references include the IQ score of 68, which both Holly and the protagonist of Flowers for Algernon, Charlie, share. "White Hole" was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 March 1991 in the 9:00pm evening time slot, and is the only Series IV episode to go out as originally planned.