[3] Initial thoughts by Mega Channel were to make a film out of the novel, but they finally decided upon a 26 episode television series instead.

[2] Mirella Papaeconomou primarily took on the script's adaptation, and with Hislop's permission added stories and characters that do not exist in the novel to make the series long enough for a full season.

[4] Cretan director Thodoris Papadoulakis convinced Mega Channel to keep Athens out of the filming by having the entire series shot on location in Crete, arguing that Spinalonga recreates a natural setting.

[2] Upon its premiere, To Nisi set record ratings for a series with an estimated 3.88 million total viewers tuning in, or 34.9% of the viewing population in Greece.

[9] The premiere beat the previous total viewers record of 34.6% set in 1998 by Mega Channel's series Psithiroi Kardias.

[15] She also noted that the day after the premiere, many daytime shows covered the series, leading her to believe that it was seen as a means to boost their own ratings.

[16] Contrastingly, Grammeli also regarded that the mass praise did not come without negative criticism by a minority, who found the series depressing, slow, old fashioned, and overly dramatic.