02: 1987 - The House By The Lake

Box sets are usually a simple enough undertaking - once the number and position of entrances has been fixed, everything else has to fall in around that. This set is no exception: a standard-issue 1950s lounge with nothing of particular note about it except the closet built into the back wall (handy for storing a dead body, as it happens). Use of the back wall always presents problems in itself, as it cuts out several feet of depth that usually can ill be spared. Fortunately, this was not a large-cast undertaking, so space was not at a premium.

By comparison, if we had done this set recently it probably wouldn't look that different, but there would be a new, clean carpet down, real skirting board and panelled doors. Nothing that, individually, makes a vast improvement, but together add up to that little bit more convincing a scene.