You couldn't claim it is the most flattering series, but, there again, people continued to stay at hotels after Fawlty Towers." As with Joking Apart, Ptaszynski produced Chalk for independent production company Pola Jones. The positive reaction of the studio audience during recording of the first series in 1996 propelled executives to commission a second set of six episodes before the first batch had aired. Recording All of the location shots for Chalk were filmed at the beginning of the production block. Acland Burghley School, in the Tufnell Park area of Camden, London, provided the exterior of the fictional Galfast High. The cast recall that it was difficult to perform comedy on location without a studio audience to gauge the reception and success of the jokes. Another school near Wembley was used for large interior shots, such as the school hall featured in the episode "The Inspection". Rehearsals took place in BBC premises in Acton, west London, colloquially known by those in the industry as the "Acton Hilton". David Bamber, his colleagues note, knew the script at the beginning of rehearsals and never dropped a line. The cast recall that director Juliet May provided a calm working environment; rather than losing her temper when things went wrong, she instead focussed everyone's mind on how to solve the problem. After the exterior shots had been filmed, the episodes were recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Most of the episodes were recorded in studios three or four, but occasionally the larger studio eight was used. After a week's rehearsals, the episodes were filmed on Sundays. The cast and crew would have a camera rehearsal followed by a dress run. After a supper, the cast were introduced to the studio audience. The studio audience responded very positively to the show during recordings. However, Moffat reflects that the show's style was not suited to the home audience. In a 2012 interview, he says: Of any sitcom I’ve ever witnessed being made, and I’ve seen loads of them like Men Behaving Badly and The Vicar of Dibley, Chalk had the biggest laughs on the night. As a piece of theatre it was brilliant in the studio – people came back every week; the audiences were rapturous. The trouble was when I watched the tape at home, it was far too loud and raucous [for TV]. The BBC commissioned a second series based on the