For the famed "skull monologue", where Hamlet finds and speaks to the skull of Yorick, David Tennant is using the real skull of André Tchaíkowsky who donated it in his will for this purpose.
In many stage productions of Hamlet, there is a tradition where Ophelia's madness is conveyed in part by having her hair down, unkempt, and the character going barefoot. In this version, Hamlet is also barefoot with unkempt hair to denote madness.
Both of Sir Patrick Stewart's stints as Claudius have been opposite Time Lords from Doctor Who (1963). His first production being opposite Sir Derek Jacobi, who played The Master on Doctor Who (1963), and this production opposite David Tennant, the tenth man to play The Doctor.
Had an eighteen day shooting schedule.
Sir Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Claudius from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980), in which Sir Derek Jacobi played Hamlet.