Adams would later reuse elements of "City of Death", along with the unfinished "Doctor Who" serial "Shada" (1979; 2003), in his novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" (1987). In Part One, Lalla Ward as Romana makes a throwaway reference to a great art gallery called the Braxiatel Collection; the "Virgin New Adventures" novel series would later expand on this, introducing the character Irving Braxiatel, a Time Lord. Braxiatel also appears in the "Bernice Summerfield" series of novels and audio dramas and in the "Gallifrey" series of audio dramas which starred Ward as Romana. Julian Glover was a well-established character actor who had previously appeared in "Doctor Who" as Richard the Lionheart in "The Crusade" (1965). Glover was reluctant to don the Jagaroth mask created for scenes where Scarlioni had shed his human disguise as he felt the mask would impede his performance. As a result, he is doubled by Richard Sheekey in many of these scenes. Tom Chadbon was cast as Duggan on account of his resemblance to the Franco-Belgian comics hero Tintin. Peter Halliday had previously appeared in several "Doctor Who" serials including "The Invasion" and "Doctor Who and the Silurians". Douglas Adams knew John Cleese and Eleanor Bron through his connections with "Monty Python" and the Footlights. On learning that both would be working in BBC Television Centre on the day the art gallery scenes were to be recorded, he persuaded them to make a cameo appearance in a short scene written for "two Englishmen". Cleese and Bron agreed on the condition that there be no pre-publicity regarding their appearance; Cleese wanted them to be credited as "Helen Swanetsky" and "Kim Bread" but the BBC declined. Cleese liked the name "Kim Bread" and used it in later projects. During recording, Cleese and Baker also recorded two short comedy skits for the BBC Christmas tape. "City of Death" director Michael Hayes had previously directed the "Doctor Who" serials "The Androids of Tara" (1978) and "The Armageddon Factor" (1979). He also had experience filming in Paris, having worked there on adaptations of "Maigret" (1960–63) and other Georges Simenon stories for the BBC. Location filming took place in Paris between 30 April 1979 and 3 May 1979.