One Foot in the Grave considered Les Dawson for the role, until Wilson changed his mind. The programmes invariably deal with Meldrew's battle against the problems he creates for himself. Set in a typical suburb in southern England, Victor takes involuntary early retirement. His various efforts to keep himself busy, while encountering various misfortunes and misunderstandings are the themes of the sitcom. Indoor scenes were filmed at BBC Television Centre with most exterior scenes filmed on Tresillian Way in Walkford on the Dorset/Hampshire border. Despite its traditional production, the series subverts its domestic sitcom setting with elements of black humour and surrealism. The series was
Clive Mantle Heart". In 1991, Mantle played an irate husband whose wife is chatted up by Richie (Rik Mayall) in the first episode of "Bottom", "Smells", and also had a role as a police inspector in an episode of "Drop the Dead Donkey". In 1991–92 he played Dave in Sandi Toksvig's "The Pocket Dream" at the Nottingham Playhouse and Albery Theatre in London. In 1992 he played a minor character as a bald monk in the film "Alien 3", in which he had to shave his head for the role. In applying for the film, Mantle sent off photographs of himself from