The Only Fools And Horses Story

Right, sit down, grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about the finest thing to ever come out of a dodgy council flat: The Only Fools and Horses. This wasn’t just a sitcom; it was a national institution disguised as a three-wheeled Reliant Regal. For seven years, between 1981 and 1991, the Trotter family taught us that you can be a complete loser and still be a legend.

The Birth of a Del Boy Empire

Imagine it: John Sullivan, a bloke who wrote jokes in a shed, pitches an idea about a failing market trader in Peckham. The BBC almost said no because they thought it was “too London.” Can you believe that? They nearly cancelled the most beloved show in British history because they were terrified of a man selling hooky VCRs.

The show’s original pilot was called Big Brother, and it was a disaster. Nobody laughed. So Sullivan rewrote the entire thing from scratch, swapping a boring flat for a high-rise and inventing the immortal “Del Boy.” The rest, as they say, is pure, gold-plated cockney chaos.

The Cast That Was Almost a Crime

David Jason, our Del Boy, was actually the second choice. The first choice was a bloke named Enn Reitel, who turned it down to do voiceovers. Can you imagine someone saying “no” to playing Del? That’s like turning down the chance to open a bottle of cheap champagne with your teeth.

Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played the hapless Rodney, was only 20 when he started. He was so nervous he once peed in a prop sink. And poor John Challis, the magnificent Boycie, was originally just hired for one episode. His peacocking laugh and terrifying face made him so good they kept him around for two decades. He ended up earning more than most of the regulars.

The Writing That Was Pure Alchemy

John Sullivan was a wizard with a typewriter. He wrote every single episode, by hand, on a yellow legal pad. He’d then type it up, throw away half the pages, and start again. The man wrote 64 episodes and never used a single joke that didn’t come from real life.

One of the most famous gags—the “chandelier fall” where Del Boy crashes through the bar—was totally accidental. David Jason tripped over a loose rug, smashed into the set, and the cast’s laughter in the scene is 100% genuine. They kept it in because it was too good to cut. That’s how legends are made.

The Cars: A Star in Its Own Right

The yellow Reliant Regal, “Del’s van,” was a beige three-wheeler that became an icon. Did you know it wasn’t even the main character’s car at first? In the early episodes, they used a proper car, but it kept breaking down. So they borrowed the Reliant from a local stunt driver.

The Regal was so dangerous that David Jason refused to drive it at more than 20 mph because it felt like falling down a hill in a biscuit tin. The producers had to use a stunt driver for any scene where the van actually moved. The only thing it was good at was tipping over.

The Golden Moments (And the Golden Fails)

The most expensive episode, “Heroes and Villains,” cost £1.5 million to make in 1996. That’s like, a million pounds per laugh. But the crowning glory was the “Miami Twice” special, where the Trotters went to America. They spent most of the budget on a single shot of the Miami skyline, and the rest on a parrot that wouldn’t stop swearing.

The famous “Jolly Boys’ Outing” episode, where the coach breaks down, was filmed in just two days. The real coach they used kept breaking down for real, so the cast and crew were stranded in a field for eight hours. They used those genuine frustrations to make the scene funnier. Suffering for art, that is.

The Ending That Made Britain Cry

In 1996, the final episode, “Time on Our Hands,” became the most-watched British TV show of all time. Over 24 million people tuned in to see the Trotters become millionaires. 24 million people. That’s more than watched the Queen’s wedding. And do you know what? The episode ended with a freeze-frame of Del falling over a stack of money. Typical.

But here’s the surprising fact: John Sullivan originally wanted the Trotters to lose the money in the final scene. He thought it was funnier. The BBC begged him to give them a happy ending. He gave in, but only after writing a version where a Swiss banker runs off with the cash. We all got the happy ending, but the “lost” script still exists.

The Legacy of the Trig

The show is still earning millions today, mostly from endlessly repeated episodes on Dave. It’s been translated into 29 languages, including French, where it’s called Les Faucheurs de Pommes (The Apple Thieves). Nobody knows why.

The final, shocking truth? The actor who played Trigger, Roger Lloyd-Pack, once said that his character’s brain was literally the size of a walnut. The writers put that in the show, and it’s still the most accurate description of anyone in that Trotter family. So here’s to the Trotters: lovely jubbly.