In this episode, Alison King had to act with her hands tied behind her back and with tape covering her mouth, as her character Carla Connor was kidnapped. The scenes that depict her bound and gagged have gained extensive popularity on Internet platforms such as YouTube, as well as been mocked in the form of comical remixes, internet GIFs and memes. Tape gags are sometimes used for pleasure by fetishists who are aroused by the sound gagged people make when they try to speak, and by video depictions in which a captor gags a damsel in distress to stop her screaming for help, as King is portrayed in the segment. For some, gags have connotations of punishment and control, and can be seen as a form of humiliation.
The 'Siege Week' took four weeks to film and used a purpose-built set. The crew built an exact fireproof replica of the Underworld factory for some of the most difficult scenes filmed at Quay Street.
Alison King underwent gun training before shooting her scenes, and insisted on doing many of her own stunts. She needed emergency oxygen after filming in the smoke-filled room during the scenes of the factory being on fire. She said: 'There were a few cuts and bruises. I got a black eye at one point, and I got a sty (in my eye). There were just normal bruises from when you are throwing yourself around on set and your adrenaline gets a bit much and you do more than you perhaps should have, but it's all exciting.' In 2016, King called the scenes "challenging to film".
Alison King filmed the majority of the scenes of the 'Siege Week' tied up on a chair with her mouth gagged, taped shut with duct tape. She commented "We were tied up and gagged for a week and a half. I was gaffa-taped for a little while and tied up for most of it. My wrist was sore at the end! It was a different experience anyway, acting for two weeks with your hands tied behind your back on a chair. Kym Marsh was like, 'You loved it!'"
While filming this episode, Alison King and Julie Hesmondhalgh joked that they developed a "telepathic understanding" while their mouths were gagged with gaffer tape, saying "We could tell from our eyes what we were trying to relate."