In a new nostalgia series for U&Gold, comedians and pals Joe Wilkinson and David Earl look into the making of Fawlty Towers, Porridge, and The Office. Here they talk about what the sitcoms mean to them and share some memories from filming....

Where did the idea for Joe and David’s Magical Sitcom Tour come from?

David

I really like looking at my favourite scenes from my favourite movies or TV shows and imagining where they filmed them - and so I started looking for [the locations] myself in my spare time with my son, and then we talked about it on the podcast, and it went from there, starting with filming locations.

Joe

It reminded me a bit of when you were a kid talking about Henry VIII and walking around where he once lived and suddenly stopping and thinking – Henry VIII actually stood here – and that’s what all of the series felt like for me, thinking wow, Ronnie Barker would have stood here.

David

It’s like Time Team and sitcom archaeology - finding treasures from our favourite shows.

What were your highlights from the series?

David

There were loads, but I think the main one for me was seeing Basil Fawlty’s red car. I sort of knew it was coming, but when I saw it parked in exactly the right position, it was the exact model - oh, wow, it really felt like a moment where I walked inside the TV screen.

Joe

I'm a bit torn, because my favourite bits in retrospect were some of the most stressful for me in the moment. I met Dick Clement, the creator and writer of Porridge, and then Ian La Frenais appeared on Zoom, and it was like an out-of-body experience –I wasn't really in the moment. It was probably the most stressful bit for me, but the bit I'm like, ‘wow, I’m so pleased I got to do that’. But in the moment I just wanted to say, ‘can I go’? I can only compare it to meeting your hero – it’s overwhelming, but you don’t not want to be there, but all you’re thinking is how do I make them think I’m great and not weird.

Why are these sitcoms so important to you both?

Joe

Porridge still means a lot to me because it was something I watched with my mum and dad when I was a kid, and we still talk and laugh about it even now. It’s a really lovely thing that I share with my family.

David

For me and The Office, it's being lost in my 20s and loving comedy, and its the thing that gave me the kick up the arse to go and try and do comedy myself. Then Fawlty Towers – like with Joe –  it was remembering my dad laughing at the show, and getting really into it myself.

Joe

I remember going to the pub after we’d been to Ealing Studios, where the cast used to go, and David said something like, ‘What are you thinking after all that?’ and I just said, ‘I want to phone my dad’, and I hadn't planned that, but we phoned my dad.

David

That was the moment when I thought I’d really like to get Joe’s parents involved.

Joe

It's funny, do you remember you used to say the only time we're together is when we're watching television, and that was almost said as a negative. Now, it's rare anyone wants to watch the same thing, unless it’s The Traitors or sport. There’s this ridiculous amount of choice. Back in the day, we'd all sit down and probably fell in love with the show just because it was on, and it was what mum and dad were watching, not realising how lucky we were.

Were there any other sitcoms that you would have liked to have explored or created episodes around?

David

There's probably another five or six. I would love to do Ever Decreasing Circles, Blackadder and The Royle Family.

Joe

Mine would be Only Fools and Horses. David makes fun of me for watching it a lot, but I think its incredible. I’d also do Father Ted and Early Doors. God there's loads, we were obviously both utterly obsessed, weren't we.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during the series?

David

I haven't been myself on camera before, so I obviously found that quite weird. How do you walk? But I think I nailed it.  

Joe

I haven't done anything like this really, basically us larking about, but also its something really serious and meaningful as well. It was like a documentary, it's finding out loads of stuff that we really care about, and trusting that if we find this exciting, hopefully other people will.

Were there any funny moments that didn't make the cut?

Joe

There was one bit that I loved, when David set me up with the Mastermind.

David

I arranged for the winner of Mastermind for Porridge to take Joe on, head-to-head.

Joe

I was really nervous because I didn’t want to do badly… but actually I did really well. But then David ruined it by telling me he’d made the questions really easy.

Why do you think that shows like Porridge, The Office and Fawlty Towers still resonate?

David

The writing's amazing, for one. I'm showing my young boys Fawlty Towers at the moment, and they absolutely love it. The writing's so sharp, and the pace, and the punchlines are genuinely funny. I’m not sure we make sitcoms that are funny anymore, like out and out funny.

Joe

I fell in love with these characters, so you just want to keep going back and watching them. I find them really comforting - sometimes I put them on and I half-watch it because I know that I'm word perfect on them.

Do you think there’s life left in sitcoms?

Joe

The landscape is a bit different now. There isn’t that water cooler moment about sitcoms that there used to be, because we consume stuff differently now. The sitcom was really special, it’d be Thursday at eight, you wouldn’t go anywhere, you had to be in.  

David

That's what we thought while we were filming. It was like, God, this feels like the death of the sitcom, were sort of putting it to rest. We feel lucky that we had that time where there’d be hundreds of shows each week where you’d come together, but nowadays there’s one, two, or three a year, and that's it.

How has making the show changed how you view those three sitcoms and your relationship to them?

David

I think I always felt like people like John Cleese had some magic keys for making an amazing show, but they're just people that made something, and it caught a light.I always felt like there was a magic ingredient, but they’re just getting on with stuff, and some things hit and some things don't. I didn't realise how much these shows had shaped me as a little boy and in my early 20s.

Joe

I just think it was a really exciting show to make - I'd struggle to love them any more.

• Joe and David’s Magical Sitcom Tour is on U&Gold from next Tuesday at 9pm. Interview is an edited version of one supplied courtesy of UTKV.