Monday, January 25, 2010

Right Royal Cock-Up And Chips

Talk about dumbing down! Did anyone else see Rock and Chips, the Only Fools and Horses prequel on BBC1 last night? Set in 1960, the show followed the adventures of a young Del Boy and Rodney's dad, Freddie 'The Frog' Robdal, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.

The famous jolly boys' outing to Margate was re-created but sadly 'Margate' looked more like Beaconsfield dressed up by the props department. Not a wave, slot machine or seagull in sight. Most of the action took place in the 'Duke of Margate' pub. And then there was the above. Surely everyone knows the only Royal Harbour in the country is in Ramsgate! Kuh!

Still, it doesn't surprise me, after hearing a chap on Radio 4 at the weekend saying: 'The army's not as regimented as people think.' Think about it.

I suppose if Rock and Chips had actually been filmed in Margate, it would have taken an Avatar style budget to make it look anything like it did in 1960. Back in 1989, when the original jolly boys' outing episode was filmed, they stood half a chance of finding something to film, as this BoobTube clip demonstrates:

11 comments:

Adem said...

I took the missus over to Margate the other weekend... 30 minutes later and we were back in the car. Not really that much too see but we were still were able to appreciate the views looking out to see, but not looking back.

Anonymous said...

gosh what did you find that took 30 minutes, my last visit was 10 and that seemed over long.

Peter C said...

Does anyone know where the "Margate train station" scenes were filmed in the 1989 episode? Certainly not in Margate.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Margate to me! Do any other stations have those circular white plaques high up above the windows?

Peter C said...

I haven't watched it in years, but every time I've seen it I've been certain that it's not Margate (as have otthers who've seen it with me).

adem said...

Sorry... typo... meant to be 30 seconds ;)

Anonymous said...

Peter, I think the Margate episode was filmed around the same time your 'new' picture was taken

Peter C said...

Haha, not quite anon 6:14, that pic was taken in September 2005 for The Thanet Times! I don't seem to have any decent recent pics of myself (no indecent recent pics either!).

Anonymous said...

I could have sworn that really was Margate station in the original - the detailing away from the building itself seemed correct. I know the Margate police station they go to in the programmes was Broadstairs cop shop as was - now it's the GHQ of the Thorley Taverns empire.

Does anybody know where the night club sequence was filmed. Someone suggested the Club Caprice to me but I'm not so sure.

I saw the Jolly Boys Outing on TV a few weeks back so it's fairly fresh in the memory. I was surprised how many things had changed in 20 years - the Thanet Way itself for example and the Roman Galley pub that is no longer. I also thought there was a sequence filmed in Chestfield near Whitstable of when the coach gets lost on the way down but that appears to have been edited out this time.
Dreamland (then Bemboms) looked good. Hope it can be brought back to something like that before too long!

Peter C said...

It's the exterior of Margate station that I specifically remember being wrong; so perhaps they filmed inside the real Margate station but outside another one?

Observant said...

The Wikipedia entry says Margate station was used in the film