Oh mon Dieu, mon DIEU! Who can believe it's been forty years since Only Fools first graced our screens. My own family are massive fans, and for my dad, everything stops when Only Fools is on! For a sitcom that wasn't expected to be a smash hit, it's now become the sitcom we can watch over and over again and laugh out loud as though we're watching it for the first time. Lovely jubbly!
What we'd like to know are your thoughts and memories of the show. Are you a fan? Was Only Fools essential family viewing when you were growing up? Did you used to go around quoting Del Boy all the time?
Come on - don't be a plonker. Hurry up and tell us!
Bonjour!
I know I'm going to be the most hated woman on here because I'm surrounded by OFAH fans (I am as well by the way) but is anyone going to talk about the godawful episodes that followed what should have been the final ever episode? When you compare them to the sheer magic that was the last two or three episodes, it's like why would you do that? It was very low on laughs and I feel they jumped around a bit with the storylines. It felt like it was written in a hurry. Such a disappointment. They should have ended it on a real high when the Trotters made their money.
OFAH didn’t premiere in Australia until September 1984, after three series were in the can. And even then, it was screened by the ABC around 11.30pm, Friday nights, as the last show before the station closed for the night. Which I suppose wasn’t the worst timeslot being a Friday night, with the weekend coming up and a lot of people would be still up. My earliest recollection was watching it at my grandmother’s place late at night, and wondering what it was. But by September 1984 I was married with child, and what I would have been doing at my grandmother’s place that late at night, at that time of my life is anyone’s guess. But that’s definitely where I first saw it.
Just a few random thoughts. Like so many shows the earlier ones were better, basically Series 1 to 5. Once it went to 50 minutes it changed a bit. It was still a good show though, especially the episode in Series 6 where Rodney has to pretend he’s 14 or 15 (?) because he wins a contest, that was classic OFAH. I think Uncle Albert was a very good character, no better or worse than Grandad. My favourite episode is probably Series One’s “Last Bus to Chingford”. It has all the great OFAH ingredients: Del’s conniving; Rodney’s naivety; Grandad’s vagueness; plus, another Del business venture (Trotter’s Ethnic Tours) that didn’t work out. And it has a nice twist in the tale.
Of the specials, I think "Jolly Boys Outing" and "To Hull and Back" are my favourites. I’ve said that I think Uncle Albert was no better or worse than Grandad (possibly a bit controversial) but also, I can’t stand the Roy Slater character, thankfully he’s not in too many. Whilst there are no real poor episodes, I don’t care much for the 1983 Christmas episode where their father turns up and tries to drive a wedge between them, it turns out okay in the end, but still, it’s not a favourite. I haven't watched that episode for many years, because of my dislike for it, but perhaps it's time to give it another watch.
Two of my fave episodes are Jolly Boys Outing and the one where the Trotters are held hostage in the supermarket. The character Lennox was hilarious. I think John Sullivan - as brilliant as he was - missed a trick by not making him a regular cast member.
Who didn't watch Only Fools and Horses? It was one of the biggest things on the telly when I was a kid. I remember for a while it was shown on a Sunday evening, so we often used to go in to school on the Monday and have a laugh about it. I live in Australia now and there are some Only Fools fans out here. And of course the Brits who live here still talk about it.
There are so many great memories of the show. Among my fave episodes would be the blow up dolls, the chandelier, Del going hang gliding, the millionaire episode. There's just so many. Top show!
Only Fools and Horses is just one of many things that makes me so bloody proud of having grown up in Britain. If I hadn't I might have missed out on this piece of comedy gold. It's ingenious! I don't know anyone who didn't enjoy an episode of Only Fools and Horses, and just as we never missed the Christmas episode of EastEnders, we never missed Christmas Only Fools. There are just too many scenes that made me howl and that I could watch on repeat. There's all the usual ones that everyone talks about like Del falling through the bar or the Batman one but I also really liked the Peckham Spring episode. I just wish they'd done an episode where Del got caught. It would have been hilarious trying to see him wriggle out of that one!