State of Decay followed Full Circle as the second part of the E-Space trilogy. Originally drafted in 1977, The Vampire Mutation — as it was then titled — was put on hold after the BBC commissioned an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. The script was kept by Nathan-Turner alongside a number of other unproduced serials. Decay was the only one he liked and he later suggested that it be redrafted for the trilogy; Dicks accepted. The serial's title changed many times before becoming State of Decay at the suggestion of Christopher H. Bidmead.