The New York City production of "Breaking the Code" by Hugh Whitemore opened at the Neil Simon Theater in New York City on November 15, 1987 and ran for one hundred sixty-nine performances. Sir Derek Jacobi was nominated for the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and re-created his stage role in this movie production.
Herbert Wise had previously directed Sir Derek Jacobi in I, Claudius (1976), where Jacobi also played a character with a stutter.
Sir Derek Jacobi is just over six years younger than his screen mother played by Prunella Scales.
Derek Jacobi was nearly a good 16 years older than Alan Turing was when he died when he acted in this film about Turing's life.
Hugh Whitemore's original play opened in the West End of London in November 1986.