Most of us watch an episode of Only Fools and Horses without ever thinking about the order in which it was actually made. You could easily assume that the cast and crew filmed one episode, finished it, and then moved on to the next.
The reality was very different.
For Series Seven, the location filming for the entire series was largely tackled as one huge production exercise before the main studio recordings began. Scenes from completely different episodes could therefore be filmed days apart — or alongside one another — according to what made the most practical and economical sense.
It was an enormous logistical puzzle. Guest actors had to be scheduled efficiently, locations secured, costumes and expensive props hired for as few days as possible, vehicles arranged, hundreds of supporting artists coordinated and the availability of the regular cast taken into account. All the while, continuity had to be maintained so that months later everything would appear completely seamless on screen.
Only after the location material had been filmed did the production move into the studio. The previously recorded sequences could then be played as part of the programme for the studio audience, allowing them to follow the complete story and provide the laughter and reactions heard on the finished episode.
Using original BBC production paperwork, we can now follow that process and see how the final full series of Only Fools and Horses was actually put together — not in the order we eventually watched it, but in the complicated order required to make it possible
How the final full series was filmed – using original production paperwork
In October 1990, the cast and crew of Only Fools and Horses began work on what would become the programme’s final full series.
Using original production paperwork, we’ve been able to piece together how some of Series Seven’s best-known scenes were actually made — including forgotten locations, deleted scenes and some surprising changes made during filming.
Bristol becomes Peckham
Much of Series Seven’s location filming took place not in London, but in Bristol.
The production arrived on 6 October 1990, with cast and crew based at the Hilton on Redcliffe Way at a special BBC rate of £42.50 a night – although breakfast wasn’t included!
Filming began the following day at Henry Africa’s Hothouse Restaurant on Whiteladies Road, which became the wine bar in The Chance of a Lunchtime.
These were the first new Only Fools scenes filmed since production on The Jolly Boys’ Outing had finished in June 1989.
Rodney’s nightclub – and a change of character
The nightclub scenes from Rodney Come Home were filmed over two days at Bristol’s Parkside Club.
The original script reveals something viewers would never have known: Jevon, played by Steven Woodcock, was originally supposed to appear as one of Rodney’s friends.
By the time the cameras rolled, Jevon had been replaced in the scene by Tony Marshall’s Chris.
Finding Boycie’s house
A property on Druid Stoke Avenue in Bristol became Boycie and Marlene’s home for The Sky’s the Limit.
It was the only location filming day involving John Challis and Sue Holderness and also included Marlene’s brother Bronco — a role that hadn’t even been cast when the production schedule was prepared.
The real Parry Print
For Rodney Come Home and The Chance of a Lunchtime, Gemini Graphics & Print Ltd in St Werburghs was transformed into Parry Graphics & Print Ltd.
The art department created new signage and even added a safety rail to an exposed staircase.
But perhaps the best detail is that the four print workers seen alongside the cast weren’t actors at all, they were genuine Gemini employees.
Nelson Mandela House
On 18 October, filming moved to the Ashton Gate flats, used as Nelson Mandela House.
Although the flats had briefly appeared in Danger UXD in 1989, Series Seven gave them their first substantial daytime appearance.
Scenes included Del and Rodney on the balcony in The Sky’s the Limit and Del showing Rodney his new Capri in He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Uncle.
The Only Fools scene we never saw
Original paperwork confirms that a complete location scene was filmed for The Class of ’62 showing Raquel’s audition.
It was shot at The Courage Club in Bedminster and even required a piano to be delivered by 8am and tuned by 9am.
But the scene was dropped.
Instead, what happened at the audition was explained through dialogue in the Trotter flat in the finished episode.
103 punters for Stage Fright
The famous nightclub sequences in Stage Fright required rather more than Del, Rodney and Tony Angelino.
Production paperwork lists an extraordinary 103 extras simply described as “Punters in Nightclub”.
The filming took place over two days, with The Studio standing in for Peckham’s Starlight Rooms.
Tony’s dressing-room scene was also originally intended to be filmed on location at The Courage Club. That plan changed, and the dressing room seen in the finished episode was recreated in the studio.
Searching London for Uncle Albert
The memorable search montage from He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Uncle was a major undertaking.
Production Manager Adrian Pegg organised 14 different locations, including Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, the Imperial War Museum, Cardboard City and scenes involving commuters, tramps, market crowds and Chelsea Pensioners.
The finished sequence was accompanied by Paul and Linda McCartney’s Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.
Back to Television Centre – almost
Once location filming was complete, production moved into the studios.
Rodney Come Home was given three full studio days at BBC Television Centre’s TC6, while subsequent episodes normally received two.
But there was an unexpected complication.
Asbestos-removal work at Television Centre meant that The Class of ’62 and He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Uncle had to be recorded at Elstree Studio D instead.
The change is remarkably difficult to spot in the finished programmes.
Rare Elstree Studio Audience Ticket
Christmas at Hillingdon Hospital
Even Christmas didn’t stop production.
Between 27 and 30 December 1990, cast and crew worked in a mothballed wing of Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, filming the hospital scenes for Three Men, a Woman and a Baby.
These were the scenes in which the Trotters welcomed Damien into the world.
The final recording
The last studio recording of Series Seven took place at BBC Television Centre on 21 January 1991.
Three Men, a Woman and a Baby was then transmitted on 3 February.
More than four months after the production unit had first set off for Bristol, the final regular series of Only Fools and Horses was complete.
There would, of course, be another ten John Sullivan festive specials over the following 12 years.
But Only Fools would never again be made quite like this – an entire series being filmed in one huge production block, with dozens of locations, hundreds of extras and scenes from completely different episodes being shot alongside one another.
Series Seven wasn’t simply the end of the regular series. It was the end of an era in how Only Fools and Horses was made.
Mike Jones
