The reason Moonbase Alpha is only shown in a few brief scenes (and Nick Tate not appearing at all) is due to the episode being filmed at the same time as The Mark of Archanon (1976) (3 through 18 May 1976). As a result, the characters here are relocated from their usual roles on the base; since Fred Freiberger valued the Tony Verdeschi character above Alan Carter, Tony is the pilot in this episode, leaving Helena oddly in charge of the Command Center.
The title came about after producer/writer Fred Freiberger was inspired traveling along the M1 motorway one day. The M1 connects London to Leeds, passing through the town of Luton.
According to Helena's status report, this episode begins on day number 892 since leaving Earth's orbit, spending roughly the previous 42 days passing through some sort of space storm. Helena's report on Dragon's Domain (1975) stated that episode had begun on the 877th day since leaving Earth, putting that episode during the space storm, but there was no sign of a storm on that episode (although the show's time line had already been corrupted with The Metamorph (1976) beginning on day number 342).
Many fans of Lost in Space (1965) have noted that this episode bears a major similarity to that series' most infamous episode, The Great Vegetable Rebellion (1968).
In the episode's novelization, it was Tony and Maya who became stranded on the planet. Michael Butterworth wrote the novelization, titled "Planets of Peril," where "The Rules of Luton" appears alongside adaptations of three other Year Two episodes.