Ever Decreasing Circles was a BBC comedy staring Richard Briers and Penelope Wilton that originally aired between 1984 and 1989.
Martin Bryce (Richard Briers) lives with his wife Ann (Penelope Wilson). Martin is a community obsessed resident in a suburban close in Surrey. Running for four series including a feature-length special, series 1 begins with the arrival of Martin and Ann’s new neighbour Paul Ryman (Peter Egan). Paul is new to the area and runs his own local business, a hair salon.
Despite the sitcom being set in Surrey, most external filming locations used were in West Sussex. In this post we go through the Ever Decreasing Circles Filming Locations used.
Martin & Ann’s, and Paul’s Houses Filming Locations
The primary external filming location for Ever Decreasing Circles is Dell Lane, Billinghurst. Dell Lane doubles as the close and includes the homes of Martin and Ann, Paul and Howard and Hilda. A number of scenes were filmed in this location for multiple episodes.
Martin and Ann – 43 Dell Lane, Billingshurst, West Sussex, England, UK RH14 9QE
Paul Rayman – 45 Dell Lane, Billingshurst, West Sussex, England, UK RH14 9QE
S2 E1 – The Tea Party
Martin is of to collect Mrs Beardsmore to bring her back for tea but to his surprise he is actually picking up Mrs Beardsmore and of her friends from the retirement home.
The building used for filming these scenes was Farebrothers, Church Street, Warnham, nr Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 3DZ which is a retirement housing complex and remains so to this day.
Later we see Martin and Howard pop into the local newsagent to pick up 10 ice creams for the ladies and themselves. On coming out of the shop the ladies have disappeared, only to be soon find in Paul’s nearby hair salon. Both the externals for the newsagent and Pauls hair salon were filmed on Lower Station Road, Billinghurst.
A few doors down from the newsagent is the building used for the external shots of Paul Raymans Hair Salon.
S2 E2 The Cricket Match
It’s the start of the cricket season and Martin is unhappy that Paul has turned up to the Saturday game after saying he couldn’t make it.
The filming location for the cricket match was Wisborough Green, Billingshurst RH14 0BN.
S3 E2 One Night Stand
In One Night Stand Martin goes on a business trip to Bruges with one of his colleagues Rex. After getting Martin drunk Rex plants a young woman in Martin’s bedroom to make him think he has cheated on Ann. Of course the truth comes out with some help from Paul
The below street view shows the hotel Martin Rex stayed at in Bruges.
Later in this episode Martin, Ann along with Paul, Alison, Howard and Hilda go to a Dinner & Dance at the Royal Hotel. I have not validated this filming location currently.
S3 E5 The Campaign
It is all happening in this episode. Martin has joined the Egremont club, a private members club whilst Ann is out campaigning for the Open University
The external shots for the Egremont club were filmed at the former Summerlea Private Girls School in Rushington. These days the building is used by Hargreaves Management Ltd.
Later in the episode Ann takes an active step forward with her campaigning at a local shopping centre.
These scenes were filmed at the Guildbourne Centre, Worthing, West Sussex
