STUDIO PRODUCTION: ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES (RESEARCH)

On'y Fools and Horses is a British Sitcom which was loved across the UK. The show went from 1981 right through until 2003 and is classed as one of the most classic forms of British Television. The sitcom focuses on 2 market traders Derek (Del Boy) and Rodney Trotter. Set is Peckham in South London, the show brings out funny and witty characters who also live around Peckham but follows the funny adventures of Del and Rodney. The majority of the sitcom takes place in either Del and Rodney's council flat or in their local pub 'The Nags Head'. Both of which are filmed inside studios but the show does also go out on locations if the episode needs to show the market or a new location.

The show's main characters were Del and Rodney, played by David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, and also their Granddad, played by Lennard Pearce for 3 seasons until he sadly past away in 1984, so in 1985 when season 4 was released, a new character was introduced which was Del and Rodney's Great Uncle Albert, played by Buster Merryfield. With both Granddad and Uncle Albert's different series, the show follows the highs and lows of the Trotters as they try to get rich.


Set
Only Fools and Horses is predominantly filmed in studio sets, for the Trotters flat or their local pub 'The Nags Head'. The sets are built inside studios with a live studio audience there to watch the recordings and to get the classic laughter track we hear in studio sitcoms.
Both locations would have different lighting and settings. Often the pub scene would be during the night but has also had day settings as well. The live audience helped build the atmosphere and helps with the delivery of the jokes and gags. Without it, you could almost say it isn't funny as it doesn't seem right without the track.

The flat is the main area of the stories. This is mostly where our 3 characters (Del Boy, Rodney and Granddad/Uncle Albert) will talk, gags will happen and a fair amount of the story is told here. As the series developed, the show would also use outside locations such as a market place, streets for outside the pub, etc. which all worked together with the series.

The studio sitcom was hugely popular in the UK and is still to this day is classed as a British Classic. The stories of the characters brings humour and joy to the viewers as well as heart warming and heart breaking character development as well as some characters returning such as Detective Slater, a crooked policeman who will do anything to make an arrest, he made an appearance 3 times in the running of Only Fools and Horses.
The Sitcom never did a 'Live' episode but all episodes are recorded in front of a live studio audience. However, this could work as a Live recording for Studio Production. A pilot sitcom episode would be something different and challenging as we would have to get the timing spot on with the actors, cues and changes. VT's could run as scenes set outside the studio set location in the episode and we would be getting actors involved rather than presenters and members of the public.