Production
The production of the show was in a conventional sitcom format, with episodes taped live in front of a studio audience, interposed with pre-filmed location material.
Most of the first five series of One Foot in the Grave were produced and directed by Susan Belbin, the exceptions being "Love and Death, " which was partly directed by veteran sitcom director Sydney Lotterby, and "Starbound, " for which Gareth Gwenlan (who in fact had originally commissioned the series in 1989) stepped in to direct some sequences after Belbin was taken ill. Belbin retired due to ill health afterwards, and the final series was produced by Jonathan P. Llewellyn and directed by Christine Gernon. Wilson and Renwick felt that Gernon's experience of working with Belbin on earlier series of One Foot as a production secretary and assistant, as well as other shows, meant that her style was similar to Belbin's, aiding the transition between directors.
One Foot used Bournemouth to film some exterior sequences because of its favourable climate, easy access to London, and economical benefits relative to filming in the capital. After the first series was filmed, the house which had been used for the Meldrews' house (near Pokesdown, Bournemouth), in location sequences changed hands, and the new owners demanded nearly treble the usage fees that the previous owners had asked for. Rather than agree to this, the production team decided to find a new house, and the first episode of the second series was rewritten to have the Meldrews' house destroyed in a fire. This also gave the opportunity for a new interior set to be designed, as Belbin had been unhappy with the original set designed for the series, which she felt was too restrictive to shoot in.
Since series two, the exterior scenes of the Meldrew's home were filmed at Tresillian Way, Walkford, near New Milton in Hampshire. These later series make extensive use of specific street and garden locations in most episodes, particularly for scenes involving the Meldrew's neighbours. Most outside locations were filmed in and around Bournemouth and Christchurch. These include Richmond Hill, Undercliff Drive and Boscombe Pier, Bournemouth Town Hall, Lansdowne College, Christchurch Hospital and the former Royal Victoria Hospital (Boscombe). Later episodes, such as "Hearts of Darkness", were filmed entirely on location. Victor's death by a hit and run driver in the final episode was filmed at Shawford railway station, Hampshire. Fans left floral tributes at the site.
The show was produced with an aspect ratio of 4:3 from 1990-1997. Three years later, the show returned to television for its final series, which was produced with an aspect ratio of 16:9. All episodes are of Standard Definition 576i.
Read more about this topic: One Foot In The Grave
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“The repossession by women of our bodies will bring far more essential change to human society than the seizing of the means of production by workers.”
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“An art whose limits depend on a moving image, mass audience, and industrial production is bound to differ from an art whose limits depend on language, a limited audience, and individual creation. In short, the filmed novel, in spite of certain resemblances, will inevitably become a different artistic entity from the novel on which it is based.”
—George Bluestone, U.S. educator, critic. “The Limits of the Novel and the Limits of the Film,” Novels Into Film, Johns Hopkins Press (1957)