Only Fools And Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger half-brother Rodney Trotter, alongside a supporting cast. The series follows the Trotters' highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich.
Lennard Pearce appeared in the first three series as Del and Rodney's elderly grandfather, known simply as Grandad. After Pearce's death in 1984, a new character was introduced—Uncle Albert, the boys' great-uncle, played by Buster Merryfield—to replace Grandad. From 1988, the show featured regular characters in Del Boy's and Rodney's love interests: Raquel (Tessa Peake-Jones) and Cassandra (Gwyneth Strong), respectively. Other recurring characters included car dealer Boycie (John Challis), road sweeper Trigger (Roger Lloyd-Pack), lorry driver Denzil (Paul Barber), spiv Mickey Pearce (Patrick Murray), Boycie's wife Marlene (Sue Holderness), and pub landlord Mike (Kenneth MacDonald).
The series was not an immediate hit with viewers and received little promotion early on, but later achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the series finale) holds the record for the biggest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers. The series influenced British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language. It spawned an extensive range of merchandise, including books, videos, DVDs, toys, and board games. The series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards, and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll. Episodes are frequently repeated on UKTV comedy channel U&Gold.
Various further media were produced, including a spin-off, The Green Green Grass (2005–2009); prequel, Rock & Chips (2010–2011); and a special Sport Relief episode in March 2014, guest-starring David Beckham. In February 2019, a musical adaptation, written by John Sullivan's son Jim Sullivan and Paul Whitehouse, launched at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London.
Spectacle Wins
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