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90-551: 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 aired until the end of the show in 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

180-644: A National Television Award in 1997 for most popular comedy series; Jason won two individual awards, in 1997 and 2002. At the British Comedy Awards , the show was named best BBC sitcom for 1990, and received the People's Choice award in 1997. It also won the Royal Television Society best comedy award in 1997 and two Television and Radio Industries Club Awards for comedy programme of the year, in 1984 and 1997. John Sullivan received

270-483: A live studio audience using a multiple-camera setup , the latter of which continues in some modern productions such as The Big Bang Theory and Fuller House . Other formats make use of a laugh track or "canned laughter". Since the 1990s, sitcoms have since expanded to animated sitcoms , with successful shows of the genre including The Simpsons , King of the Hill , and Family Guy . Critics have debated

360-788: A 2004 BBC poll. Lennard Pearce appeared in the first three series as Del and Rodney's elderly grandfather. 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 show

450-540: A 30-minute time slot. Throughout their history, American sitcoms have often drawn inspiration from British counterparts. Popular shows like All in the Family , Three's Company , and Sanford and Son were adapted from successful British series. More recently, The Office achieved significant popularity in the United States , following the success of its British counterpart. Numerous television networks in

540-512: A 90-minute comedy drama. The title was subsequently changed to Rock & Chips . Filming began in August 2009, and it was shown on BBC One at 9pm on 24 January 2010. In October 2009 it was confirmed that Lyndhurst would star as Robdal. The Inbetweeners and Off The Hook actor James Buckley played the role of the young Del Boy. The show has been released on VHS, DVD and audio CD in several guises. A DVD collection containing every episode

630-526: A South London "fly" trader, lives in a council flat in Nelson Mandela House, a high-rise tower block in Peckham , South London , with his much younger brother, Rodney ( Nicholas Lyndhurst ), and their elderly grandfather, Grandad ( Lennard Pearce ). Their mother, Joan, died when Rodney was young, and their father Reg absconded soon afterwards, so Del became Rodney's surrogate father and

720-460: A black background. The fifth series had a black and white background, but the sixth series reverted to the black one. For the seventh series, the credits scrolled against a freeze frame of the final scene. The original "Nelson Mandela House" in the titles was Harlech Tower, Park Road East, Acton , London. From 1988 onwards, Whitemead House, Duckmoor Road, Ashton in Bristol was used. The tower block

810-669: A cloud, never to be seen again. Other members of the Trotter family were rarely sighted, the exceptions being cousins Stan (Mike Kemp) and Jean (Maureen Sweeney), who attended Grandad's funeral. In " The Second Time Around ", the woman they believed to be Auntie Rose ( Beryl Cooke ) turned out to be no relation at all but the woman who had moved into Rose's house some years earlier. After Rodney met Cassandra, her parents Alan ( Denis Lill ) and Pam ( Wanda Ventham ) became recurring characters. Raquel's parents, James and Audrey ( Michael Jayston and Ann Lynn ), appeared in " Time On Our Hands ", and it

900-544: A core group of characters who interact in a recurring setting, such as a family, workplace, or institution. However, British sitcoms typically consist of shorter series, often six episodes, and are frequently developed by a smaller writing team. The majority of British sitcoms are half-hour comedies recorded in studio settings using a multiple-camera setup. While many adhere to traditional sitcom conventions, some have ventured into more unconventional territory. For example, Blackadder and Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister shifted

990-456: A decision. In " Happy Returns ", Del stops a young boy from running into the road and takes him home to his mother to discover she is an old flame from nineteen years ago, June Snell ( Diane Langton ) and the episode revolves around whether her daughter Debby (Oona Kirsch) is actually Del's child, complicated by the fact that Rodney is dating her. June also appears in " A Royal Flush ", attending an opera. An attempt by Lennox ( Vas Blackwood ) to rob

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1080-508: A friend's offer to set up business in Australia, leaving Rodney and Albert behind. Plans were made for a spin-off entitled Hot-Rod , which would have followed Rodney's attempts to survive on his own with help from Mickey Pearce but leaving open the prospect of Del's return. Jason then changed his mind, and the ending of the episode was changed to show Del rejecting the offer. Sullivan had a tendency to write scripts that were too long, meaning

1170-420: A heart attack and was taken to hospital. He died on 15 December, the day before he was due to return. Sullivan wrote Grandad's death into the series with the episode " Strained Relations " which featured Del and Rodney's goodbye to Grandad. According to Sullivan, recasting Grandad was considered disrespectful to Pearce by the team, so it was decided that another older family member was to be cast. Buster Merryfield

1260-464: A local supermarket set up the "hostage" situation in " The Longest Night ". Del and Rodney spent the whole of " Tea for Three " battling each other for the affections of Trigger's niece Lisa ( Gerry Cowper ), who briefly reappeared in " The Frog's Legacy ". Abdul ( Tony Anholt ) in " To Hull and Back " and Arnie ( Philip McGough ) in " Chain Gang " were responsible for setting up dubious enterprises involving

1350-516: A lot of good material had to be cut. Shortly before filming of the sixth series began, he and Jason requested that the show's time slot be extended and it was agreed to extend its running time to 50 minutes. This required a 40 per cent increase in the show's budget, and coincided with the show's becoming one of the BBC's most popular programmes. Robin Stubbs became the costume designer for the sixth series and

1440-566: A regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie). In 1987, Mother and Son won the Television Drama Award for portraying a woman suffering from senile dementia and her interaction with her family, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission . In 2007, Kath & Kim ' s first episode of series 4 attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally. This

1530-443: A special Sport Relief episode in 2014. From the second series, Only Fools and Horses has separate theme songs for the opening and closing credits: "Only Fools and Horses" and "Hooky Street", respectively. The series 1 theme tune was produced by Ronnie Hazlehurst and recorded on 6 August 1981 at Lime Grove Studios . Alf Bigden , Paul Westwood , Don Hunt, John Dean, Judd Proctor , Eddie Mordue and Rex Morris were hired to play

1620-557: A staple of the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In the 1970s and 1980s many British sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network . By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been re-screened several times by ABC Television ; they were then acquired and screened by the Seven Network. In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature

1710-540: A supporting cast. The series follows the Trotters' highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Critically and popularly acclaimed, 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

1800-657: Is fully uncut; and various photo galleries, a booklet and artcards are also included. It entered and peaked at #10 on the UK Official Blu-ray Chart the week ending 18 December 2021. All seven series and the Christmas specials have been released on DVD in both individual and complete sets. The first three series each contained their Christmas specials from 1981, 1982 and 1983. The specials were omitted from all subsequent series sets but were instead released separately and not in chronological order. In addition,

1890-553: Is located behind Ashton Gate , the home ground of both Bristol City Football Club and the Bristol Bears , with some scenes filmed in the stadium's car park. Sixty-four episodes of Only Fools and Horses , all written by John Sullivan, were broadcast on BBC1 from 8 September 1981 until 25 December 2003. The show was aired in seven series (1981–1983, 1985–1986, 1989 and 1990–1991), and thereafter in sporadic Christmas special editions (1991–1993, 1996, 2001–2003). The episodes from

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1980-451: Is one of the UK's most popular sitcoms. It was among the ten most-watched television shows of the year in the UK in 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The 1996 Christmas trilogy of " Heroes and Villains ", " Modern Men " and " Time on Our Hands " saw the show's peak. Twenty-one-point-three million viewers watched the first two installments while the third (said to be

2070-564: Is one of the leading channels in India, dedicated entirely to Sitcoms. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is the longest-running sitcom of Indian television and is also known as the flagship show of SAB TV . On Tiptoes and Shabhaye Barareh were among the first and most important sitcoms that led to the growth of this type of comedy in Iran, both receiving wide critical and audience acclaim. El Chavo del Ocho , which ran from 1971 to 1980,

2160-535: Is sometimes thought—by Nicholas Lyndhurst. The opening credits see images of the three principal actors peel on and off the screen sequentially. These appear over a background of still photographs of everyday life in London. The sequence was conceived by graphic designer Peter Clayton as a "metaphor for the vagaries of the Trotters' lifestyle", whereby money was earned and quickly lost again. Clayton had also considered using five-pound notes bearing Del's face. The action

2250-401: The "Nag's Head Board Game" . A CD-ROM was released in August 2000 by BBC Multimedia . It featured a calendar, a calculator, a pub quiz, numerous clips from the show and a driving game. An app was released for mobile phones in 2010. The Only Fools & Horses Plonker Test app included a quiz, mini-games and audio clips from the show. It has since been discontinued. Only Fools and Horses

2340-725: The Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series . In 2020, the sixth and final season of Schitt's Creek was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards . This broke the record for the most Emmy nominations given to a comedy series in its final season. During the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards , the show became the first ever comedy or drama series to sweep the four acting categories ( Outstanding Lead Actor , Outstanding Lead Actress , Outstanding Supporting Actor , Outstanding Supporting Actress for Eugene Levy , Catherine O'Hara , Dan Levy , and Annie Murphy respectively) and one of only four live action shows, along with All in

2430-529: The Nag's Head , or individuals the Trotters were doing business with. Del and Rodney's deceased mother, Joan, though never seen, was frequently mentioned in Del's embellished accounts of her final words or in his attempts to emotionally blackmail Rodney. Her grave, a flamboyant monument, was seen occasionally. Their absent father, Reg, appeared once in " Thicker Than Water " (played by Peter Woodthorpe ), before leaving under

2520-753: The RTR channel. The "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s, when in 2004, the STS started the highly successful sitcom " My Fair Nanny " (an adaptation of the American sitcom " The Nanny "). Since that time, sitcoms in Russia have been produced by the two largest entertainment channels in the country — STS and TNT . In 2007, the STS released the first original domestic sitcom — " Daddy's Daughters " (there were only adaptations before), and in 2010, TNT released " Interns " —

2610-556: The United States feature sitcoms in their programming. CBS , TBS, Nickelodeon , and Disney Channel are just a few examples of networks that air sitcoms. Get-rich-quick scheme This is an accepted version of this page A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment . Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk , skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least

2700-512: The Writers' Guild of Great Britain comedy award in 1997. Sitcom The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners . These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but the term "sitcom" emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filmed in front of

2790-409: The "Rockney" style, a mixture of rock n' roll and traditional Cockney music. Sullivan was persuaded to do it himself by Ray Butt. Despite the creation of a new theme tune, the original one remained in occasional use. Chas & Dave did later contribute to the show, performing the closing credits song for the 1989 episode " The Jolly Boys' Outing ". Both songs are performed by Sullivan himself, and not—as

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2880-753: The 1981 Christmas special, Susan Belbin series four, and Mandie Fletcher series five. Butt directed series three and five, as well as the 1985, 1986 and 1987 Christmas specials. Tony Dow became the established director after 1988, directing all subsequent episodes, bar the first part of Miami Twice, which was directed by Gareth Gwenlan. John Sullivan was executive producer on seven of the final eight episodes. A BBC documentary titled "The Story of Only Fools and Horses" aired in December 2002. A six-part documentary series also titled "The Story of Only Fools and Horses", began on 29 August 2017 on Gold and finished on 3 October 2017. The series features rare and unseen footage from

2970-431: The 1990s these included: Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993), Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001), Ramani Vs Ramani (Tamil 2001), Amrutham (Telugu 2001–2007), Khichdi (2002), Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2005) F.I.R. (2006–2015), Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (2008–present), Uppum Mulakum (Malayalam 2015–present), and Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain (2015–present). SAB TV

3060-482: The 2010s, resulting in a decline in sitcom popularity. Nevertheless, there have been recent efforts to revive the sitcom genre. For instance, Netflix released So Not Worth It in 2021, featuring many creators from popular South Korean sitcoms. Popular South Korean sitcoms include the High Kick series, which has spawned several spin-offs. British sitcoms , like their American counterparts, often revolve around

3150-417: The Family , The Golden Girls , and Will & Grace where all the principal actors have won at least one Emmy Award. Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), Nukkad (1986), and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were permitted to operate, many more sitcoms followed. In

3240-714: The Trotters in their respective episodes. Tony Angelino ( Philip Pope ), the "singing dustman" with a speech impediment , was the key to the humour and the storyline of " Stage Fright " and EastEnders actor Derek Martin guest starred in " Fatal Extraction ". Del's nemesis from his school days, corrupt policeman Roy Slater (played by Jim Broadbent ), made three appearances, in " May The Force Be With You ", " To Hull and Back " and " Class of '62 ". Feared local villains, Danny and Tony Driscoll ( Roy Marsden and Christopher Ryan , respectively) featured once, in " Little Problems ", but were mentioned in two previous episodes (" Video Nasty " and " The Frog's Legacy "), and are important in

3330-534: The UK from 2005 to 2009. A prequel, Rock & Chips , ran for three specials in 2010 and 2011. A special Sport Relief episode aired in March 2014, guest starring David Beckham . In February 2019, a musical adaptation of the show , written by John Sullivan's son Jim Sullivan and Paul Whitehouse , was launched at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. Derek "Del Boy" Trotter ( David Jason ),

3420-588: The United States in 1926 with the radio show Sam 'n' Henry . The subsequent success of Amos 'n' Andy , also created by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll , solidified the sitcom's place in American radio programming. The transition to television brought about significant changes in the sitcom format. Mary Kay and Johnny , which premiered in 1947, became the first American television sitcom. Today, American sitcoms typically run for 22 minutes, allowing for approximately eight minutes of advertising within

3510-418: The archives and specially re-created moments from Del Boy's family and friends. On 27 December 2020, a special called "We Love Only Fools and Horses" was broadcast on Channel 5 in which various fans, actors and crew recalled the story of the series and why the show is still popular. A spin-off of Only Fools and Horses entitled The Green Green Grass , also written by John Sullivan and directed by Tony Dow,

3600-701: The conflict. It has never been broadcast commercially, but a copy exists at the Imperial War Museum , London. A Comic Relief special showing Del , Rodney and Albert making an appeal for donations was shown on 14 March 1997, with 10.6 million viewers. A Sport Relief special was aired on 21 March 2014 which featured retired footballer David Beckham . Only Fools and Horses had two producers: Ray Butt from 1981 to 1987, and Gareth Gwenlan thereafter. Seven directors were used: Martin Shardlow directed all episodes in series one, Bernard Thompson directed

3690-472: The death of actor Lennard Pearce, his younger brother Uncle Albert ( Buster Merryfield ) was introduced and moved in with Del and Rodney, becoming a main character. The plots of many early episodes were primarily self-contained, with few plot-lines mentioned again, but the show developed a story arc and an ongoing episodic dimension in later series. Del and Rodney's quest for love is a recurring theme, which eventually resulted in them finding long-term love in

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3780-414: The documentary The Story of Only Fools and Horses was released in 2003. A number of episodes were re-edited for audio purposes and released on either audio cassette or CD. In total, there were five CDs released, with the first one being released on both CD and cassette. An album was released in 2002. Only Fools and Horses: The Album featured songs used in the show, as well as John Sullivan performing

3870-459: The early 20th century. Get-rich-quick schemes often assert that wealth can be obtained by working at home . Get-rich-quick schemes that operate entirely on the Internet usually promote "secret formulas" to affiliate marketing and affiliate advertising. The scheme will usually claim that it does not require any special IT or marketing skills and will provide an unrealistic timeframe in which

3960-453: The exact definition of a sitcom, mostly regarding productions created at the turn of the 21st century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use a single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, instead more resembling documentaries or the comedy-dramas of the 1980s and 1990s. Although there have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, many American and British sitcoms have been successful in Australia, since sitcoms are considered

4050-456: The family leader. Despite their differences in age, personality and outlook, the brothers share a constant bond throughout. The Trotters attempt to become millionaires through questionable get-rich-quick schemes and by buying and selling poor-quality and illegal goods. They have a three-wheeled Reliant Regal van and trade under the name of Trotters Independent Traders , mainly on the black market . Initially, Del Boy, Rodney and Grandad were

4140-416: The first five series (excluding Christmas specials) had a running time of 30 minutes, but from series 6 (1989), the running time of the series episodes was extended to 50 minutes. Several mini-episodes were produced. An eight-minute episode aired on 27 December 1982 as part of a show hosted by Frank Muir , The Funny Side of Christmas , and attracted 7.2 million viewers. A five-minute spoof BBC documentary

4230-417: The first of three new episodes which were shot together but ultimately broadcast over three consecutive Christmases from 2001 until 2003. Despite rumours of further episodes, in a 2008 interview, Sullivan was quoted as saying: "There will not be another series of Only Fools And Horses . I can say that. We had our day, it was wonderful but it is best to leave it now". Though Sullivan died in 2011, it returned for

4320-647: The first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms). Sitcoms, or "시트콤" in Korean, gained significant popularity in South Korea during the 1990s. This popularity was fueled by the success of shows like Dr. Oh's People , LA Arirang , and Men and Women . The use of computer graphics (CG) in sitcoms began to increase in the late 1990s as more broadcasters adopted CG technology. This led to more visually dynamic and creative sitcoms. However, viewer preferences shifted towards dramas and thrillers in

4410-440: The five feature-length Christmas specials broadcast from 1985 to 1989, restored and remastered in high-definition . For the restoration process, the original 16 mm film elements were cleaned and rescanned, while the standard-definition videotape elements were "digitally reprocessed" and upscaled to HD. On the set, the episode " A Royal Flush " is featured both in its original and "writer's cut" versions; " The Jolly Boys' Outing "

4500-496: The focus from domestic or workplace settings to the world of politics. A more recent development in British comedy is the mockumentary , a style that blends documentary and comedic elements. Shows like The Office , Come Fly with Me , W1A , People Just Do Nothing , and This Country have successfully employed this format to explore a variety of topics and characters. Sitcoms, or situation comedies, made their debut in

4590-575: The form of Raquel ( Tessa Peake-Jones ) and Cassandra ( Gwyneth Strong ), respectively; Del also has a son with Raquel, Damien (played by five actors, most recently Ben Smith ), while Rodney has a daughter with Cassandra, Joan (named after his and Del's mother), born in the final episode . The Trotters finally become millionaires, lose their fortune, and then regain some of it. The most frequent roles for guest actors in Only Fools and Horses were as Del or Rodney's one-time girlfriends, barmaids at

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4680-461: The help of Jim Sullivan . In November 2018, You Know It Makes Sense, Lessons From The Derek Trotter School of Business (And Life) , was published by Ebury Press. The book was written by John Sullivan's son, Jim Sullivan. Two board games based on the show were released: a Monopoly -style game, the "Trotters Trading Game" , in which participants attempt to emulate the Trotters and become millionaires, and another game set in their local pub, entitled

4770-405: The history of the series. The scripts have been published in a three-volume compendium, "The Bible of Peckham" . In October 2015, He Who Dares... , a fictional autobiography, was published by Ebury Press . The book was written by John Sullivan's son, Jim Sullivan. In August 2017, Only Fools and Horses: The Peckham Archives , was published by Ebury Press. The book was written by Rod Green, with

4860-602: The individual could make hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Since the growth in popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the early 2020s, skeptics have accused many NFT projects of resembling get-rich-quick schemes. Legal and quasi-legal get-rich-quick schemes are frequently advertised on infomercials and in magazines and newspapers. Illegal schemes or scams are often advertised through spam or cold calling . Some forms of advertising for these schemes market books or compact discs about getting rich quick rather than asking participants to invest directly in

4950-413: The labels' movement. Clayton returned to the show when the closing credits were changed for " Christmas Crackers ". He re-cut the entire sequence and added Christmas items. Another change was made necessary by Lennard Pearce's death and Buster Merryfield joining the cast, so the pictures of David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were updated too. The sequence was shot on motor drive . The closing credits for

5040-420: The music. The tune was changed after the first series, and the new one was written by John Sullivan (he disliked the tune for the first series, and his new one explained the show's title), and Hazlehurst conducted it. It was recorded at Lime Grove on 11 May 1982, with musicians John Horler , Dave Richmond , Bigden and Proctor. Sullivan had intended Chas & Dave to sing it because they had enjoyed success with

5130-500: The only regulars, along with the occasional appearances of road sweeper Trigger ( Roger Lloyd-Pack ) and pretentious used car salesman Boycie ( John Challis ). Over time, the cast expanded, mostly in the form of regulars at the local pub The Nag's Head . These included pub landlord Mike Fisher ( Kenneth MacDonald ), lorry driver Denzil ( Paul Barber ), youthful spiv Mickey Pearce ( Patrick Murray ) and Boycie's flirtatious wife Marlene ( Sue Holderness ). After Grandad died following

5220-747: The possibility of a stage show but sadly didn't get the chance to commit to it. In 2015 we met with the producer, Phil McIntyre, and agreed to develop the idea. Soon after that, Paul Whitehouse came on board and things have been bubbling away ever since. I am very pleased and excited to say that the show will be launching early next year." The musical launched on 9 February 2019 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket , London. Only Fools and Horses spawned many merchandising spin-offs. Several books have been published, such as "The Only Fools and Horses Story" by Steve Clark and "The Complete A-Z of Only Fools and Horses" by Richard Webber, both of which detail

5310-457: The programme included Joan Sims , best known for her numerous roles in the Carry On films, who guest-starred in the feature-length episode " The Frog's Legacy " as Reenie Turpin, an aunt of Trigger and old friend of Del's late mother; successful film actor David Thewlis , who played a young wannabe musician in " It's Only Rock and Roll "; John Bardon , who played the role of Jim Branning in

5400-437: The programme varied series by series. The first series used peeling labels featuring the names of the cast and crew, mirroring the opening sequence, but these had to be updated with every new episode, making the process very time-consuming; from the second series, the credits switched to a standard rolling format. The third series featured additional symbols. For the fourth series, these designs were replaced with white lettering on

5490-463: The protagonist's tax- and work-evading lifestyle, Only Fools and Horses . That name was based on a genuine, though very obscure, saying, " only fools and horses work for a living", which had its origins in 19th-century American vaudeville . "Only Fools and Horses" had also been the title of an episode of Citizen Smith , and Sullivan liked the expression and thought it was suited to the new sitcom. He also thought longer titles would attract attention. He

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5580-532: The show has earned an estimated $ 1 billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa . Gliding On , a popular sitcom in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards during its run including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the Feltex Awards . The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry", which resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in a Spanish format. It was aired from 1996 to 1997 on

5670-573: The show's final episode at the time of broadcast) attracted 24.3 million, a record audience for a British sitcom . Repeat episodes also attract millions of viewers, and the BBC has received criticism for repeating the show too often. Only Fools and Horses won the BAFTA award for best comedy series in 1985, 1988 and 1996, was nominated in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1991, and won the audience award in 2004. David Jason received individual BAFTAs for his portrayal of Del Boy in 1990 and 1996. The series won

5760-403: The soap opera EastEnders , appeared as the supermarket security officer Tom Clark in " The Longest Night ". Walter Sparrow , who appeared as Dirty Barry in " Danger UXD ", went on to appear in several Hollywood films. In 1980, John Sullivan , a scriptwriter under contract at the BBC, was already well known as the writer of the sitcom Citizen Smith . It came to an end that year and Sullivan

5850-733: The story of The Green Green Grass . An adult Damien ( Douglas Hodge ) appeared in " Heroes and Villains ". Rodney and Mickey's friends, the smooth-talking Jevon ( Steven Woodcock ) and then, briefly, Chris ( Tony Marshall ), a ladies' hairdresser, featured sporadically during the sixth and seventh series and the intervening Christmas specials. The two-part 1991 Christmas special, " Miami Twice ", saw Richard Branson and Barry Gibb make cameo appearances. Mike Read appeared as himself, hosting an episode of Top Of The Pops , in " It's Only Rock and Roll " and Jonathan Ross appeared as himself in " If They Could See Us Now ". While their characters were less significant, well-known actors who played cameos in

5940-493: The success of other sitcom crossovers such as Dad's Army and Are You Being Served? . Sullivan was not keen, owing to his work on Just Good Friends as well as Only Fools and Horses , and inexperience with the theatre, so nothing came of it. In July 2018, John Sullivan's son, Jim Sullivan , announced that an Only Fools and Horses musical was nearing completion, with a script by Jim Sullivan and Paul Whitehouse . Jim Sullivan said, "Back in 2010 my Dad had been toying with

6030-449: The theme tune and Hookie Street. Apart from the physical CD release, the album has never been available digitally, meaning that the theme tune has never appeared on streaming or download services as of 2023. A single was released to support the album, which sampled the show's theme tune, titled Delboy's Tune . The music video features John Challis as Boycie and Patrick Murray as Mickey Pearce. Before Euro 2004 , an unofficial England song

6120-481: The time and she thought "horrible". Del's rings and bracelet were made of fake gold and came from Chapel Market . Rodney's combat jacket came from the BBC's Costume Department, and De Gaye added a Yasser Arafat scarf purchased from Shepherd's Bush Market . De Gaye used Vaseline , make-up and food to make Grandad's costume look dirty. The idea was that he never had his hat off, never dressed properly and usually wore dirty pyjamas underneath his clothes. A second series

6210-533: The viewing figure "today would be very good but in those days wasn't considered great at all, so it was sort of put on the back burner for a bit—no particular plans for a second series". The costumes for the first series were designed by Phoebe De Gaye. Del's attire was inspired by her going to car boot sales. She took Jason shopping in Oxford Street and had him try a variety of suits. De Gaye purchased some gaily coloured Gabicci shirts, which were fashionable at

6300-467: Was James who discovered the antique watch which made the Trotters millionaires. In some episodes, a guest character was essential to the plot. Del's ex-fiancée Pauline ( Jill Baker ) dominated Del's libido in " The Second Time Around ", prompting Rodney and Grandad to leave. In " Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ", Del's old business partner Jumbo Mills ( Nick Stringer ) wanted Del to return to Australia with him and restore their partnership, forcing Del to make

6390-634: Was broadcast in the UK in October 2006, a third in November 2007 and a fourth in January 2009. In 2003, it was reported that Sullivan was developing a prequel to the original series, Once Upon a Time in Peckham , which would feature Del as a youngster in the 1960s and have a prominent role for his parents. In 2009, it was again reported that the BBC were considering commissioning the show, although nothing

6480-496: Was commissioned for 1982. This fared a bit better, and the first and second series had a collective repeat run in June 1983 in a more low-key time slot, but attracted a high enough viewing figure for Davies to commission a third series. From there, the show began to top the television ratings. Viewing figures for the fourth series were double those of the first. In early December 1984, during the filming of Series 4, Lennard Pearce suffered

6570-408: Was confirmed that there were no plans for a new series. Despite this, the show continued in Christmas specials until 1993. Sullivan nonetheless wanted a final episode to tie up the show. In late 1996, three more one-hour episodes were filmed, to be broadcast over Christmas 1996. All three were well received and, due to the ending, were assumed to be the last. The show made a return in Christmas 2001 with

6660-404: Was confirmed. On 5 April 2009, Sullivan said that he was planning a prequel to Only Fools and Horses which would star Nicholas Lyndhurst as Freddie "The Frog" Robdal , a local criminal and Rodney's biological father; Robdal was the focus of the episode " The Frog's Legacy ". On 3 July 2009, the BBC revealed that the title of the spin-off would be Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips , and would be

6750-927: Was criticized by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of the Prime Minister. The show nevertheless proved very popular with both television audiences and critics, becoming the most-watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011. It was nominated at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Although there have been several notable exceptions, relatively few Canadian sitcoms attained notable success in Canada or internationally. Canadian television has had much greater success with sketch comedy and dramedy series. The popular show King of Kensington aired from 1975 to 1980, at its peak garnering an average of 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly. The 1999 movie Trailer Park Boys

6840-670: Was first aired in the UK in September 2005. Sullivan had considered writing a sitcom around the popular characters of Boycie and Marlene ( John Challis and Sue Holderness ) since the mid-1980s, but it was not until Only Fools And Horses ended that the idea came to fruition. The Green Green Grass saw Boycie and Marlene forced to leave Peckham by one-time Only Fools and Horses villains, the Driscoll Brothers, and included guest appearances by Denzil ( Paul Barber ) and Sid ( Roy Heather ). A second series of The Green Green Grass

6930-554: Was first overruled on the grounds that the audience would not understand the title, but he eventually got his way. Filming of the first series began in May 1981, and the first episode, " Big Brother ", was transmitted on BBC1 at 8:30 pm on 8 September that year. It attracted 9.2 million viewers and generally received a lukewarm response from critics. The viewing figures for the whole first series averaged at around 7 million viewers. According to an interview with John Challis in 2015,

7020-530: Was followed up by a television series of the same name that ran from 2001 to 2018, airing in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. Corner Gas , which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging one million viewers per episode. It has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards. Other noteworthy recent sitcoms have included: Call Me Fitz , Schitt's Creek , Letterkenny , and Kim's Convenience , all of which have been winners of

7110-434: Was issued, along with various other special-edition box sets, such as a tin based on their Reliant Regal. Videos and DVDs of Only Fools and Horses continue to be among the BBC's biggest-selling items, having sold over 1 million VHS copies and 6 million DVD copies in the UK. The series made its debut on Blu-ray on 6 December 2021, with a three-disc set entitled Only Fools and Horses: The 80s Specials. It featured

7200-702: 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 last episode) 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. Episodes are frequently repeated on UKTV comedy channel Gold . A spin-off series, The Green Green Grass , ran for four series in

7290-469: Was released by Undercover . The track, titled Viva England! , sampled both the opening theme from Only Fools and Horses and Hookie Street—used with John Sullivan's blessing—and reached number 49 in the charts. A four-minute show named "Royal Variety Performance" was shown on 27 November 1988 (viewed by 18.14 million people) and had Del, Rodney, and Albert appear on the Royal Variety Show . It

7380-549: Was responsible for getting Del's attire to match his new yuppy image. His new suits cost around £200 each and were purchased from Austin Reed in Regent Street . The rest came from stores such as Tie-Rack and Dickins & Jones . His jewellery was replaced in each series because it was very cheap (the "D" rings cost 50p each). The seventh series aired in early 1991. Jason and Sullivan were involved with other projects, and it

7470-403: Was searching for a new project. An initial idea for a comedy set in the world of football was rejected by the BBC, as was his alternative idea, a sitcom centring on a cockney market trader in working class, modern-day London. The latter idea persisted. Through Ray Butt, a BBC producer and director whom Sullivan had met and become friends with when they were working on Citizen Smith , a draft script

7560-399: Was shot manually frame by frame and took around six weeks to complete. Clayton knew that it was important to have the characters established in the titles and prepared a storyboard depicting his ideas using drawings. He photographed various locations with a photographer, and the titles were shot using a rostrum camera and not edited. Brian Stephens, a professional animator, was hired to create

7650-407: Was shown on Breakfast Time on 24 December 1985, with Del being investigated by a BBC consumer expert. An educational episode named " Licensed to Drill ", in which Del, Rodney and Grandad discuss oil drilling, was recorded in 1984 but only shown in schools. A five-minute 1990–91 Persian Gulf War special (dated 1 December 1990) has Del, Rodney and Albert convey a message to British troops serving in

7740-411: Was shown to the BBC's Head of Comedy, John Howard Davies . Davies commissioned Sullivan to write a full series. Sullivan believed the key factor in its being accepted was the success of ITV's new drama, Minder , a series with a similar premise and also set in modern-day London. Sullivan had initially given the show the working title Readies . For the actual title he intended to use, as a reference to

7830-455: Was staged on 24 November 1986, and the plot saw David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Buster Merryfield appear on stage in character, thinking that they are delivering boxes of alcohol to an associate of Del's, only later realising where they actually are. They also mistake the Duchess of York for Del's associate. An idea of an Only Fools and Horses stage show was mooted by Ray Butt, following

7920-559: Was the highest rating for a first episode in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009, which garnered 2.58 million viewers. In 2013, Please Like Me received an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris, was praised by critics, and earned numerous awards and nominations. Also in 2013, At Home with Julia

8010-546: Was the most-watched show on Mexican television and had a Latin-American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its popularity peak during the mid-1970s. The show continues to be popular in Central America as well as in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, the United States, and other countries. Syndicated episodes average 91 million daily viewers in all its American markets. Since it ceased production in 1992,

8100-450: Was then cast as Grandad's brother Albert . The scenes from " Hole in One " that featured Pearce were re-filmed with Merryfield. Midway through the filming of the fifth series, Jason told Sullivan that he wished to leave the show in order to further his career elsewhere. Sullivan thus wrote " Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ", which was intended to be the final episode and would see Del accepting

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