You may have noticed that I’m on a slow binge-watch of Grange Hill from the beginning. I’m two thirds of the way through series six, and the sets are starting to look like the sets I most remember. Whether that’s because this was the era I watched most as a kid, or because of this, I don’t know.
So, does this moment in The Young Ones use set pieces from Grange Hill? Let’s have a closer look – with a caveat: the disc I have to hand is series six, and it’s more likely that this Young Ones scene was shot around the time of series seven filming.
Luckily for us though, episode ten, An Inspector Calls, has lots of scenes set in the corridors. In fact, this is the opening shot.
They’ve certainly done a good job of matching the colour scheme.
Later on, Zammo and Jonah walk along a corridor, in a nice low angle tracking shot that unfolds in a rather similar way to The Young Ones clip.
While it’s clear to me that the doors here are similar, they’re not the same. Yes, they have the four glass panels, but the handles are different, and/or the metal footplates don’t seem to be there. Also, the long wall on screen right is glass.
But then, they turn a corner, into this …
Compare.
I genuinely didn’t think we would find such a good match when I started writing this morning.
The back wall in TYO covers that little vestibule from GH and the second set of doors.
The skylights above the doors seem a good match.
The right angle ‘coves’ in the corners are a good match.
The double doors are a good match.
The door on screen left is a good match, knob handle and all.
The wooden rail halfway up the wall is a good match.
And look, just above Ben Elton’s bag in this shot …
Before looking again at the opening shot …
Looks to me like they’ve used the right hand side of the set from here too.
Pretty much the only thing missing is the G and B signs and the noticeboards.
Wow.
