Continuity mistake: Nick's character is eating an ice cream in the police car and eats the whole thing. When the shot changes to Simon's side, he's still got about half of it left.
Visible crew/equipment: After Leslie Tiller is stabbed with the garden shears, when Nicholas chases after the hooded figure, just as he dives over a table with potted plants the blue crash mat is visible under the table. (Slow motion is not necessary.) (01:07:00)
Continuity mistake: When Doris comes into the station with Danny's birthday cake she has a pair of fake boobs over her sweater. But when she puts the cake down on the table they have disappeared, even though she was holding the cake with both hands.
Factual error: At the end of the film, SGT Angel gets into his Police car Subaru Impreza, and on the bonnet it has the writing 'Sandford Constabulary'. This is incorrect, it would in fact be 'Gloucestershire Constabulary' as established at the start of the film that Sandford is in Gloucestershire. A Constabulary is always named after the County, never after a tiny village within that County. (01:49:35)
Revealing mistake: When the Sergeant has the shotguns in the backpack on his back, and you see a close up of his face, you can see that the shotguns do not have triggers. On plastic prop rifles, the trigger is usually molded into the trigger guard in the pulled back position, and you can see this on these prop shotguns.
Continuity mistake: When Michael attacks Nicholas in his hotel room, during this scene objects being broken or shoved (such as stuffed monkey, radio, lamp, picture) change their position, or the characteristics of the actual damage, change from shot to shot. Additionally, when Nicholas is slammed into the picture it begins to fall forward, but next shot it rests upright against the wall. (01:17:30)
Continuity mistake: When Angel is chasing the shoplifter, the distance between Angel and the gold statue keeps changing in different shots. (00:28:00)
Continuity mistake: In the pub, when Nicholas and Danny overturn a table and take cover, in following shots the holes and damage to the table either disappear or change significantly, depending on camera angle. (01:38:15)
Continuity mistake: When Nicholas sits in front of Frank Butterman's desk, as they discuss his idea of multiple killers, one of the window shade slats is flipped up and out of position. After a brief close-up of Butterman, the slats are perfectly aligned in Nicholas's close-up. (01:16:15)
Continuity mistake: During the second "eating ice cream in the patrol car" scene, when both Nick and Danny are eating ice cream cones, the amount of ice cream smeared around Nick's mouth changes size and location between the cutaway shots. (01:12:30)
Continuity mistake: Immediately after Tim Messenger is killed, Angel runs to the top of the church spire. As he exits the door onto the roof, the remains of the small spire that fell on Messenger can be seen on the right hand side of the screen. In the long shot of the roof that immediately follows this, the remains of the small spire are missing. (00:57:10 - 00:59:30)
Continuity mistake: When Nicholas is asked for his autograph, for breakfast, his signature, as well as the ones above and below his, differs between the side and top shots. (00:25:00)
Revealing mistake: When Angel and Danny jump into the skip, you can see the boxes under the rubbish have been placed there specifically. (01:41:00)
Continuity mistake: When Nicholas and Danny are discussing the case at the table, Nicholas groans and drops his head onto his arms. When we cut back to Nicholas, his head is on the desk.
Other mistake: When Martin Freeman punches in the numbers on the telephone to call Steve Coogan, the numbers he enters are not shown on the telephone's screen.
Revealing mistake: After Angel gets shot in the vest, you get a good closeup of his bandoleer of shotgun shells. You can see the gold paint rubbed off on the primer side of the cartridges, revealing the red plastic underneath. You can also see that the end of the round either just has paper stuffed into it or is completely empty. A real shotgun round will have a brass cap/primer and the end will either be folded completely over (like the shutter of a camera) or show a rifled slug inside. (01:37:20)
Continuity mistake: In Nicholas's hotel room, just after Nicholas is thrown onto the bed, Michael shoves Nicholas into the dresser. In the first shot (facing the dresser), the officer's back faces the dresser, as he slams his head into Michael's stomach (which is to the right of the dresser), and his arm is stretched when he breaks the glass. Second (close-up) shot (facing the right side of the dresser), Nicholas's head faces the opposite way (to the left of the lamp) and his arm is bent at the elbow as the glass breaks again. Third shot (same angle as first), his body position is the same as first shot. (01:17:35)
Continuity mistake: When Nicholas and Danny break into the bar in the village shoot out, the barman has a double barrel shotgun, so it's only capable of holding 2 shells and firing either both shells or one at a time. Either way, if you watch closely, he lets off 3 shells.
Revealing mistake: When the officer holding the double barrel shotgun has it broken open to reload it, you can see that the primers have been dimpled, meaning that they've been fired. The rifle is closed up again without the spent shells being replaced. (01:41:10)
Deliberate mistake: The floating contact mine that explodes at the end of the movie would never have been put in an evidence room in a police station. Barring that error for the plot's sake, FCMs weigh 450lbs and would have required a hydraulic crane and a cart to move it, not just a couple of guys. They also did not contain clocks. (00:42:40)
Chosen answer: In the pub Danny demonstrates using a ketchup packet to simulate stabbing himself in the eye. Later in the film he returns Nicholas Angel's notebook, hiding a ketchup packet in it. He stabs the pocket with the notebook, causing the ketchup to leak and simulate blood.