Remembering the iconic Only Fools and Horses scene filmed in Suffolk
One Suffolk town was a key part of the 1987 Christmas special episode
Whether you’d regard Suffolk as the ‘Hollywood of East Anglia’ is another matter entirely, but there’s no denying that quite a few films and TV shows have used the county to shoot scenes. From Netflix film The Dig to cult BBC show Detectorists, Suffolk has proven to be quite the place to spot stars of stage and screen over the past few years.
Let’s be honest, it’s hardly surprising that film crews choose to pitch up in Suffolk. The county’s rich, untouched countryside makes it a great setting for many different types of production.
Some films and TV shows shot in Suffolk – like the two already mentioned – are well-documented, but others have fallen under the radar. Only Fools and Horses, which aired from 1981 to 2003, is arguably the most famous British TV series of all time – but did you know one of the show’s most famous scenes was shot right here in Suffolk?
It’s common knowledge that although the show was set in Peckham, south London, not a single scene was shot there. Instead, most scenes were filmed in west London and Bristol.
However, Suffolk’s biggest town, Ipswich, features in the 1987 Christmas special episode, The Frog’s Legacy. When Rodney is struggling to find work, Del gets him a job but fails to mention to his brother that he’ll be working for the local funeral director as a chief mourner.
Later in the episode, Rodney mistakenly leads a funeral procession down a one-way street. After becoming distracted and threatening Del, who is watching the carnage unfold from the side of the street, Rodney realises his mistake and immediately halts the funeral procession, resulting in the funeral cars crashing into each other.
While it may seem like this scene was filmed on the streets of South London, it was in fact shot on Seymour Road and Rectory Road in Ipswich. It’s not known why the show’s creator, John Sullivan, picked Ipswich as the location to film one of the show’s funniest scenes, but the town will always have a connection to one of the best British comedy shows.
