Original subtitles

Stick a bunny in me pocket I'll fetch the suitcase from the van Cause if you are the

best ones but you don't ask questions Then brother, I'm your man Cause where it all

comes from is a mystery It's like the changing of the seasons and the tides of

the sea But here's the one that's driving me berserk Why do...

Yeah, I was watching that.

Only Fools and Horses is one of Britain's most loved shows on TV.

Lovely jubbly.

64 episodes were made between 1981 and 2003 and it's

still watched and laughed at by millions of us every week.

What are you doing?

I'm trying to get the dinks of acid.

With every line written by just one man.

The success of Fools and Horses can be summed

up with two words and it's John Sullivan.

The story of Derek Trotter's life is the story of John Sullivan's creative genius.

I don't think anybody really touches John for being able to make you laugh.

And being able to make you cry.

It's time next year.

Happy Millionaires.

Celebrating the wonderful comedy world of John Sullivan we'll be getting the inside

story on the Trotters from the horse's mouth.

I was nearly fired because of that scene.

Oi!

I said to John, you can't use this.

Come on, get him off!

We've also recreated some of the sets, reunited cast members

and have talked to some of the show's most famous fans.

One of the incredible things about Fools and

Horses is that you can grow up watching it.

I can't remember a time before I watched only Fools and Horses.

It's really, really, really the best.

Over the next hour, we're going to be looking at the brothers who are at the

heart of the series, Del and Rodney Trotter.

What a 42-carat plonker you really are!

We'll also be looking at the rollercoaster relationship the show had with the BBC.

Who are those terrible people?

Do we have to have their show?

And a very special Christmas sketch, which hasn't been shown on TV for over 28 years.

We needed someone to promote our product.

But God!

So sit back and enjoy the definitive story of Only Fools and Horses, the show which

has given us some of the most memorable moments in British comedy.

Of course, that's just comedy.

I mean, it doesn't really happen in real life.

But it's not supposed to happen in real life.

Granddad!

He still hasn't got it right.

You've got room to talk.

You have been nothing but an embarrassment to me from the moment you was born.

You couldn't be like any other little brother, could you, eh?

And come along a couple of years later after me.

Oh, no, no, not you.

You had to wait 13 years.

You had the brothers and that's another thing.

John Sullivan said, yeah, they're brothers.

Nicholas Lindhurst is David Jason's brother.

And you go, all right.

Del and Rodney first appeared on our screens in 1981.

And over the following 32 years, their rollercoaster

relationship was central to every single episode.

You little plonker.

It was the ultimate love-hate relationship, really.

I mean, they were.

They needed each other and they despised each other at the same time.

Well, of course, he's celebrating, isn't he?

Celebrating what?

Well, hasn't he told you?

He's just heard from the clinic he's got an all-clear.

Del being the older was looking after Rodney.

He was a very father and son.

Rodney couldn't really overstep the mark because that was his

big brother and he'd looked after him since he was so high.

What have you ever done for me?

What have I done for you?

I've brought you up.

I've fed you, I've clothed you.

I picked you up when you fell down.

I wiped your tears away.

And as only an older brother could, Del used their absent mum as emotional

collateral to get Rodney to do exactly what he wanted.

That's where Del's manipulative part of his character comes into play.

Last week, we was having a row about whose turn it was to go down a chipper, yeah?

And you claimed that Mum said on her deathbed...

..she'd send Rodney for the fish.

Rodney was always very sad that he never really knew his mother.

But at the same time, Del was taking the piss a bit with the deathbed soliloquy.

I remember what Mum said to me on her deathbed.

Del, she said, please give little Rodney all the encouragement that you can.

Try to make him feel normal.

Never, Del.

Never hold him back.

She didn't half say a lot on her deathbed.

There's a stick to beat Rodney with, basically.

What's that rumbling noise?

I didn't hear nothing.

No, it's all right, it's Mum turning in her grave.

Oh, right, start that again, Del.

It's obvious you're stitching me up.

Look at you, you have three or four changes of clothes a day.

Me, I've got one suit come from an almost new shop.

It's embarrassing sometimes.

Rodney knew that there was a better life out there.

He could leave this little council estate and he wouldn't have to be trussed up with

his brother and his grandpa or his uncle all the time.

There must be a way out of this.

One, two, three.

I'll do the one, two, three, fours.

One, two, three, four.

Listen here.

When Rodney joins a band with ambitions to storm the

charts, it's Big Brother who becomes their manager.

Rodney sees an opportunity to get out.

He can be in this band, he can be on top of

the pops, he can make some legitimate money.

Therefore, you've got one of those glimpses into his aspirations as to he

doesn't want to be a street trader like his brother any more.

He wants something else in life.

But Del is more interested in making a quick quid than his brother's aspirations

to be a pub star and books the band's first gig

to be at the Shamrock Club on Paddy's night.

Rodney is so passionate and keen to be in the band and be a good drummer,

and of course Del drags him back into the world of ridiculous awfulness.

You didn't really think you were going to go nowhere, did you?

I mean, just take a look at them other three.

They've got about five and a half brain cells between

them and one of them was on the blink, I'll tell you.

John was very clever at dangling these dreams and then for one reason or another

crushing them.

I don't believe it.

It's a bunch of hollies.

What do they think they're doing?

They're on top of the box.

Rodney's saying, you stopped me doing it, you stopped me chasing my dreams,

you stopped me having these aspirations.

Del is quite happy to crush his brother.

That's almost Shakespearean.

I always said they could make it and you convinced me they couldn't.

That's always been your trouble, Rodney.

You're too easily swayed.

And what about me, eh?

What about me?

I was their manager.

I'm going to stick this right over your jack, sir.

On-screen brothers for over 22 years, the comedic chemistry between Del and

Rodney you can put down to casting alchemy.

Nick was cast when I was asked to come and

read for Derek Trotter, and Nick read with me.

There was a chemistry there that...

Well, it was just there, you couldn't plant

it, you couldn't work on it, it was just there.

Beneath all this finery, there lies a book.

Now, that surprises you, doesn't it, eh?

No.

We suddenly realised quite early on that we had very different styles of acting.

David's always got a drink or a cup of tea or a plate of breakfast.

He's always whizzing around the set, he's going to the

kitchen, he's lighting a cigar and all that sort of stuff.

And I suddenly thought, well, if we both start doing that, you're not going to be

in shot, so one of us better sit down and just sit at

the table or sit on the sofa or sit in the armchair.

The whole set-up of that show was that David was the driver, the energy,

and Nick was the reactor, so that David could punch a gag.

Fancy a curry?

You cut to Nick and Nick would react and you get another laugh on the reaction.

So they were an incredible team.

Coming up, we look at the rivalry between Del and Rodney.

Rodney got his own back, properly.

We ain't got a car phone.

As well as only Fools & Horses material,

which hasn't been broadcast in over 28 years.

You don't even know what if-it's are, do you?

If-it's, they make model aeroplanes, don't they?

Oh, what a plonker!

Welcome back to The Story of Only Fools & Horses, as we take

a look at those brothers-in-arms Del and Rodney Trotter.

Don't you look at me in that tone of voice, Rodney!

They were always bickering.

They'd get in each other's way, they'd get in each other's hair,

they'd trot on each other's toes regarding girlfriends and all that sort of stuff.

Oh, he's gone to sleep, bless him.

So you want to get a nice tan for the girl then, do you?

I'll give you a nice tan, all right?

There was a certain undermining that we would always do to each other.

As soon as one was getting a little too big,

the other one would come and steal his thunder.

Oh!

Does your face hurt?

Only when I smile.

Rodney's got this hideous red tan.

The girl, she's friends with paragliders and Del Boy's sort of been boasting that,

oh, yeah, I can do all of that.

What am I going to do, Rodney?

I can't tell him I'm scared, can I?

No, no, make yourself look all right, dipstick, in front of everyone.

It was one of the first times that Rodney got his hand back properly.

Rodney does the bluff and says, yeah, OK, don't worry, I'll get you out of

this, I'll pretend that the phone's ringing in the car.

Is that our phone I can hear ringing, Rodney?

Eh?

I said, is that our phone I can hear ringing?

No.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

We ain't got a car phone.

Hold that line.

Despite the occasional falling out and the odd threat of physical violence...

I'm going to kill you, Rodney!

When it really came down to it, nothing could come between the two brothers.

They'd take the mickey out of each other all the

time, but they would also do anything for each other.

If I'd gone to the police every time you said you were

going to kill me, you'd still be slopping out in parkers.

It doesn't show it most of the time.

Del loves Rodney.

And that does come out occasionally when I think Del takes a beating for Rodney.

As far as I'm concerned, Del, you're no longer my...

What the bloody hell's happened to you?

It's all right, it's all right.

No, I just, you know, I just walked into a door.

That's, again, the recurring theme of brotherly

love, that strung through most of the episodes.

And that is the great thing, there's affection.

The rows, the easy thing to do in things like that,

especially working-class things, everyone arguing.

Because I'm finished with you.

I've washed me hands of you.

As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist.

The fact they really, really loved each other, that's a

thing that's hard to pull off and some writers shy away from.

And Rodney.

What?

It's been raining and roads will be treacherous.

Drive carefully.

That was the lovely thing about doing John's work, is you had a chance to really

explore the emotions of a relationship of two brothers like that.

Cheers.

Cheers, mate.

When Rodney gets married, Marlene says to Del,

you know, why didn't you ever get married, Del?

All the birds that I went out with, they wanted to

get married, but they didn't want to bring Rodney up.

Especially the way he went through shoes.

Anyway, what was I supposed to do?

Get married and put Rodney into care?

No.

They all bode him.

Well, he's family, isn't he?

And that's, I think, the core of why the show is as successful as it is.

Del has this big heart and it's family.

It's really good to be back, Del.

They needed each other and they were locked together.

That's the magic of the show, really.

You felt like you knew them and you cared about them.

Even though you wanted to see them getting in and

out of scrapes, you just wanted them all to be OK.

I couldn't wait for the postman to bring a Fools and Horses script through the door.

I couldn't wait.

I was like a child at Christmas.

You had to read every comma of it.

It would just embroil you into this plot line and then there'd be this huge laugh

and then there'd be this terrifying tragedy.

You know, on the next page, it was an astounding read.

Stay here, stay here.

Excuse me, can you tell me which ward Mrs Trotter is in, please?

In a comedy writer's meeting, if somebody put their hand up and said, how about in

this Christmas sitcom, in this Christmas episode, let's do a miscarriage?

Shut up, what are you talking?

We can't do a miscarriage.

John Sullivan could.

We did enjoy tricking the audience sometimes.

We'd be going, OK, you're watching a sitcom?

Yes, you are, of course you are, but we're

going to start talking about some heavy stuff.

Cassandra needs your strength.

You go in there, I don't want no sobbing, no booing.

You just give her comfort and understanding, all right?

I read the script through and at the end I realised, John Sullivan can do that,

he can make this terribly painful thing funny

and sad and in life things are funny and sad.

I'm sorry, Rodney.

HE SNIFFLES

It integrated the comedy into the sadness, you know?

It was perfect.

You get a very sad melancholy moment and then this

really funny moment because in the end it's a comedy.

That happened and it happens to families and John was

making The Trotters very real as opposed to just comic.

While refusing to come to terms with Cassandra's miscarriage, Del confronts him

in one of the most emotional scenes ever filmed in Fools and Horses history.

We, I think, rehearsed it twice, just reading it from the script,

and Tony, our director, said, right, we're going to leave it.

We're going to leave it at that.

We're not doing it again until we shoot it and I thought it's not giving us much time.

It's broken down!

Oh, the lift, it's broken down!

Oh, the poxy bleeding council!

But Tony, being a very clever director, realised that the more it's rehearsed,

the more of the rawness and the emotion will have been rehearsed out of it.

We were looking forward and all we could see in front of us was this big,

wide highway and we were just cruising down it

and all of a sudden it came to a shuddering halt.

Just like this poxy lift.

Suddenly happy families became dungeons and dragons.

And I've never felt such in pain like that in all my life.

Is Cassandra hurting?

Of course she is.

How do you know?

You haven't talked to her about it.

You could drop a pin in the studio.

The atmosphere was incredible.

It's so exciting when two actors get to change an atmosphere like that.

It's almost as if... if I don't talk about it, it might not be true.

But it is.

I know, I know, but if I don't say it...

If you don't say what?

We lost our baby.

But you did.

And you have said it.

Yeah, I said it.

It broke the nation's hearts.

There wasn't a dry eye in the studio that night.

It was just heartbreaking.

Still makes me well up thinking about it.

I've just been lying, haven't I?

Yes.

And what about Cassandra?

Not her.

Cassandra can't tell a lie.

Raquel can.

The moment one leaves my lips.

It's also John Sullivan, at his most brilliant.

We were a group of OK actors that were made...

We were raised because of the quality of that script.

Look at this.

I wonder what this switch does here.

You... You git.

You stopped it.

It's the only way I could get you talking.

Can't run away in a broken lift.

You git.

You... git.

Yeah.

Come here, boy.

Come on.

Moments like that take it away from...

comedy, from situation comedy.

And it becomes a situation comic drama.

John managed to marry the two, and that's what makes the difference

between, say, some sitcoms and Fools and Horses.

Coming up, we see how the Trotter brothers finally made their fortune.

And then very quickly lost it.

Let's face it, if anyone could lose millions of pounds, it was those two.

Chateau Nerf-doing pep.

We're in a bit of bother here, bruv.

Welcome back to the story of Only Fools and Horses as we look

at the ups and downs of the brothers Del and Rodney Trotter.

I'll tell you, Roders, this time next year, we will be millionaires.

Everyone always wanted Del Boy to become a millionaire.

Everyone, everyone I met in the streets, they

made suggestions, maybe he should win the lottery.

And it was...

John was hearing suggestions about how... how he would actually make it in the end.

What's that?

Um, it's a guest stove.

No, I mean on top of it.

Oh, that's just an old watch I got out of a house clearance years ago.

Everybody was trying to find out how did they become millionaires.

Yeah.

And John sold the story of they won the lottery.

Yes, that's right.

Most of them, stupid enough, swallowed it.

There was only one lady, a very well-known lady, credit for the Daily Express,

said, I cannot believe a writer of John Sullivan's quality to take the whole day

on A Fools and Horses and say they won the lottery.

It's not classy enough.

Oh, is it any good then?

Good.

John Harrison was just about the finest watchmaker of his time, of any time.

If this is what I'm beginning to think it is, God, I'm shaking.

Why, you didn't have that much to drink last night, did you?

John, two years to research all that.

Watches and things and all that.

Yeah, yep.

Oh, he was a stickler for getting accurate and getting one of his great strengths.

Have you any proof that this watch is your property?

A receipt, something like that?

Oh, well, no, see, he don't keep receipts.

They just clutter the place up.

They had to prove that they owned it.

So if you go back to the very, very first episode ever of Only Fools and

Horses, Rodney is sitting, entering what they've bought

into a ledger book, which Del tells him not to do.

You dozy little twonk, Rodney.

This is prima facie evidence, isn't it, eh?

The taxman gets hold of that, it puts away for three years.

Don't worry, if a taxman comes, I'll eat it.

So when they do need to prove that they own this watch before they can sell it,

they go back to this one ledger book that they've got and it's in there,

so that's the proof that they need.

I've got it, eh?

I've got it!

The receipt from the landlord, look.

For two paintings, four jugs, one rocking

chair, one silver fob watch engraved Harrison.

Ha!

Good boy, Roberts.

What I've always told you, I've always said, always keep the receipt.

But he also tells you that they've been millionaires since episode one.

I'd like to start the bidding at £150,000.

Well, let's talk about John Sullivan and long-running jokes, shall we?

When I read that episode, I thought, you clever

bugger, you've just crafted this incredible situation.

But that's...that's his genius.

You mean it ended up at £300,000?

It's still going on!

Oh, come on, let's get back up here!

Three and a quarter.

The bid is in the room.

Three and a half.

350,000 quid!

Three and three quarters.

Four, thank you.

The bid stands at £4 million.

The Harrison watch is still out there.

I mean, if people find it, they too could become millionaires, like the Trotters.

John Sullivan, never one to do things by halves, made the brothers

multimillionaires with the Harrison watch fetching £6.2 million at auction.

Do you want to go first or should I?

Well, why don't we go together?

Yeah.

Yeah, all right.

One, two, three.

Yes!

Well, from an actor's point of view, I thought, well, that's it.

We're finished.

We're not going to do any more after this because we've achieved our dream.

Odell has achieved his dream of being a millionaire,

so that's the end of this particular gravy train.

Millionaires at last.

That Rolls Royce out here, I want to buy it.

Oh, that's a good'un, Rodney.

This episode of Only Fools and Horses, which saw Del and Rodney finally achieve

their dream, is the most watched show in British TV history.

Another remarkable accolade in its 22-year run, which saw

sustained critical and public acclaim, along with 25 TV awards.

You bought this roller for me?

A little present.

Just to say... thanks.

John came to the final night shoot, which he didn't used to do.

He never used to come on a night shoot.

I said to him then, I've been dreading this shot because I know this is the last shot.

And he just went very quiet.

And I suppose now I'm not sure whether he just didn't want

to respond or whether he thought, just wait, I don't know.

Come on, Rodney, this is our big chance, eh?

He who dares wins.

This time next year, we could be billionaires!

When they did ride out in the sunset with their millions, it would have been great

to finish it, but I was like everybody else.

But do another couple.

After an absence of five years, they were back.

When we came back after they became millionaires, John said to me,

I've got to get them back to be what they were

because there's nothing funny about rich people.

But the Trotters' high rolling and jet setting

was confined on screen to less than three minutes.

Let's face it, if anyone could lose millions of pounds, it was those two.

He had to keep failing in order to pick up, pick

himself up, dust himself down and start again.

Having lost their fortune gambling on the futures market, the Parkless Trotters had

to do a rather hasty runner and only had one place to go.

I think it was really nice that they ended up back

at the same place and still continuing to strive.

There's no good looking at me with that Anne Robinson face.

I'll look at you any way I like.

Del was still saying, I tell you this, the way things are going, this time next

year, we're going to be flying high because my plans are going to work out and

it's going to work, we're going to come out top dog.

Once more, Del is looking for a get-rich-quick scheme and bags a slot as a

contestant on the fictional TV game show Gold Rush with Jonathan Ross as the host.

This is the fastest game show on TV.

This is Thursday, this is live, this is Jonathan Ross and this is Gold Rush.

So I was super excited because A, Falls On Horses is a legendary show,

you know, I mean, it's like part of our sort of rich cultural tapestry.

And the chance of doing something on screen with David Jason, who's one of our

finest comic actors, was also kind of scary but exciting at the same time,

so of course I leapt at the chance.

For £50,000, here it is.

Which classical guitarist wrote the opera, The Child and the Enchantment?

Was it Ravel, Segovia or Rodrigo?

When I sat down to sort of like do the lines, they call them run the lines,

obviously, David, I forgot all of them.

I mean, I forgot, my mind went completely blank.

Well, in that case, Jonathan and I are going to have to use me old SOS, aren't I?

Yeah, I think that's probably wise.

Who would you like to be your saviour tonight, David?

My brother, Rodney.

So I had to say, well, normally when I'm in the studio, I have it on autocue,

do you have it on autocue?

Oh, yeah, we can put it on autocue.

I said, well, why don't we put it on autocue just

so it looks more like I'm really hosting the show?

That was, it was just I couldn't remember the lines then.

Was it Ravel, Segovia or Rodrigo?

Ravel.

How sure are you?

100%, Derek.

Good boy, Roders.

Derek, you don't have to take his answer.

You know that, don't you?

No, no, no, no, no, but he knows what he's talking about.

It's Ravel.

So you don't want to change your mind?

No.

Derek, that was the wrong answer.

Del Boy was sort of driven by this desire, which we know won't really make him happy,

but at the same time, you wanted to get it because you like him so much.

Can I ask who's calling, please?

Del.

It's the producer of Gold Rush.

He wants to talk to you.

Oh, no.

In typical John Sullivan fashion, there is a twist and

a chance of redemption where Del could win the money.

What?

No.

No.

I said there's been a mistake.

It was Ravel.

No.

No.

I knew I was right.

Yeah, he said I could take the £50,000 and go back on the show.

Yes!

Oh, have a day off, will you, you lot?

Who do you think this is?

Hey, look, you can hear the jukebox in the pub.

Bloody Nicky Pete, I'm going to murder you.

No, no, no, get in the back of the queue.

Don't worry.

I'll tell you what we would like you to do.

Give all the money to charity.

Yeah?

And if you phone here once again, I'm going to come

down there and kick your arse into Shreddy Duck.

Goodbye.

See?

Jonathan?

He said give the 50 grand to charity.

What a nice guy.

I found that I'd saved a letter that John Sullivan

wrote to me when he asked me to be in Fools and Horses.

And it says, Here are the sequences of the script concerning the game show.

I won't bore you with the whole script, not unless you're having trouble sleeping,

which is remarkably self-deprecating when you think about it.

It's Fools and Horses you're talking about, but I suspect, like most people who

are really good at what they do, there's no arrogance and there's no kind

of bullishness and there's no desire to show off.

I've written a bit of patter for you, but it's just my attempt at your style.

The script isn't carved in stone and will listen to any suggestions you may have.

Hope you enjoy it and I'm so pleased you're doing it.

Best wishes, John.

That's such a lovely letter to have and I'm very glad I have kept it and I will

not be selling this to any of the many Fools and Horses fans who no doubt will

now try and get hold of me and ask if they have this.

After the break, we see how hard it was for the show to become established.

David and I both thought, well, this is it.

This is the chop.

And look at the rare sketch which hasn't been broadcast in over 28 years.

Isn't that beautiful that it's raised the chassis as they say in theater.

Welcome back to the story of Only Fools and Horses.

With 64 episodes running from 1981 until 2003, we never tire

of following the antics of brothers Del and Rodney Trotter.

I can't bear this modern idea that I've done a couple of series,

that's all I can get out of carrots, I'm going to move on.

John Sullivan didn't do that.

He didn't run away.

Somebody writes these, I've done a couple of

seasons, we want to get out while we're on top.

You've only just started.

Two seasons into Only Fools and Horses, it was going to be axed.

Oh, that's a turn-out, isn't it?

Fools and Horses didn't get off to a flying colours start.

It was met with a little scepticism, I think.

We were looked down on because we involved ordinary people living in a tower block.

HE LAUGHS Rather than, you know, Tom and Barbra's that live in Surbiton.

Shut up and drink up, will you?

Yeah, yeah.

And a couple of ravers.

And a couple of geezers.

The first two series of Fools and Horses went

virtually unnoticed by the British public.

Oh, good God.

And despite having some of the comedic moments now considered classic,

the cast and crew thought it was all about to come crashing down about their ears.

LAUGHTER We were called in to the controller's office head

of comedy on the fourth floor one afternoon after work.

And I think David and I both thought, well, this is it, this is the chop.

And we stood in front of John Howard Davis' desk and he just said, well,

I think it's funny.

So I'm putting my balls on the block and we'll do series three.

Fortunately, one man took control of BBC One who knew he had a hit on his hands.

If only it was handled the right way and given the maximum amount of exposure.

One of the reasons they brought me in was to sort the schedule out.

Then I found all these gems of shows that were sitting there that hadn't got any

ratings, that were just brilliant, brilliant

shows and Only Fools of Horses was one of them.

You then had to showcase it in the right slot, the right

night, at the right time and the rest, as they say, is history.

He who dares wins.

How many are called, but I'm afraid few are chosen.

When we did start to establish ourselves and started to become very successful,

John Sullivan and me went to BBC Television Centre and seeing all the

photographs of their big successful shows all lined up on the wall, Terry and June,

Butterflies was there and the one that was missing was The Trotters.

So John went to the boss head of comedy at

the time and said, where's the Trotters then?

He said, oh yeah, they're upstairs on the sixth floor next to the toilets.

I can only assume that it was some sort of class thing, I suppose, because don't we

get BBC in those days, everybody's spooked like that and we

were all speaking like that and who are those terrible people?

Do we have to have their show?

Put them next to the toilets.

It wasn't given the place of honour in reception which I think upset John

Sullivan, the writer, quite a bit, but we soon put that right.

Lovely jubbly!

Critical success, public adoration and a string of awards meant that by the

mid-eighties, Fools and Horses was one of the most important shows on television.

Dear God, high up in the sky...

We were loving the show, John Sullivan was writing better and better shows and so it

was all leading up to these specials and the BBC, in their wisdom, had realised

what a huge audience it was capable of pulling

and they then started to put it on at Christmas.

Good stuff on a cherry dough.

Yeah, I know, it's really great.

Oi, oi, go and get your own copy of the double-issue Christmas Radio Times.

It's got a lovely picture on the front.

Merry Christmas!

There's no question that having special Christmas

edition of Only Fools was absolutely crucial.

The public expected it and it became a centrepiece of the schedule.

The first feature-length Christmas special was To Howl and Back, shown on primetime

Christmas Day and watched by just under 17 million viewers.

Just don't act suspicious, Rodney.

Let's pretend we're Dutchmen, all right?

Oi, axe!

I think we were up against Minder or something, which is a wonderful,

wonderful, wonderful, one of the best shows ITV's

ever made, but it couldn't compete with Only Fools.

MUSIC PLAYS

It's amazing because every Christmas comes round and people go, is it going to be on?

And you think, well, ask the BBC, don't ask me.

But, yeah, it was for all the time we were involved in it.

Yeah, that was it.

It was the Queen and us.

What do I say to him?

No!

When something you're involved in, you know that

literally half the nation is going to be watching it.

That put a pressure on me.

So I used to put my coat on and go wandering round the windswept and

rain-sodden village where I lived, but I still couldn't resist.

If someone had a chink in the curtains, I'd just make sure that they were watching it.

Trawling the archives, we've discovered a very special piece of Fools & Horses

material, recorded for a one-off BBC compilation called The Funny Side of

Christmas, featuring Dell, Rodney and Grandad.

This hasn't been shown on British television in over 28 years.

I've come to sell my wares and they're guaranteed, they're guaranteed,

if you're hardcore softcore and pimples on the tongue.

That's beautiful, innit, eh?

Isn't that beautiful?

That is, raise the chasse, as they say in the end.

Now, be honest.

Have you ever seen a Christmas tree like that before?

No, of course you haven't, and I'll tell you the reason why.

One, you do not have to buy electric lights, ball, balls,

bangles and beads, because this tree comes complete.

Two, you do not have to struggle with it like you do the old

forest-type Christmas tree, because this tree folds down.

See, again, that was a lovely prop, wasn't it?

The props guy's maid.

Here, Rodney, come here a minute.

Come here, I want to show you something.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, the market traders

have always given a Christmas tree to that church over there.

But this year, they just can't afford it.

It's the little orphans that I feel sorry for.

I mean, every Christmas Eve, they'd come down from the

orphanage, they'd hold an open-air carol service round the tree.

It looked really lovely, it did.

I thought about crying once.

LAUGHTER What a completely wonderful example of a scheme going through Del

Boy's mind, drawing in Rodney, doesn't see it coming,

pulling on his heartstrings, he does a good thing.

Right, ready when you are, Riff.

Here goes, then.

Oh, they flash.

Yeah.

They're not supposed to.

I mean, it's not much of a tree, but it's the only one... You're wrong, Rodney.

This is the finest Christmas tree our church has ever had.

You see, for a growing number of years, I have become

dismayed, even shocked by the attitude of modern youth.

But today, you walked into this church and

offered us this tree simply because you care.

That probably encapsulates Del and Rodney's relationship quite succinctly.

Rodney is the show's moral compass.

Del sets up what he wants him to do without Rodney knowing about it.

That's how it used to work.

As I was saying, this is the only Christmas tree as

used and recommended by the Church of England itself.

LAUGHTER If you just like the car...

Right over there, you'll see what I mean.

Well done, Rodney, I knew you wouldn't let me down.

When was this one?

Which one was this?

1982.

It doesn't ring a bell with me at all.

I told you, when you see yourself performing like crazy.

You dirty little mercy.

We needed someone to promote our product.

But, God, you ought to give that tree to the vicar, didn't you?

All that rubbish about them little orphans.

You've got no ethics.

You don't even know what ethics are, do you?

Yeah.

Ethics?

They can make model aeroplanes, don't they?

LAUGHTER Ethics.

You can sell two if you like.

No way, my son.

I've heard of commercialisation of Christmas, but this is taking a...

3.50.

All in lovely, crisp readies.

All right, girls, have your money ready.

Now, don't worry.

LAUGHTER We'd reached the top of the television tree, if you like.

So, what a journey that we'd all had in Fools and Horses to reach the number one

slot on the number one day in the country's calendar.

Oh, bain-marie, bain-marie.

That was the cherry on top of the cake.

No income tax, no V8 No money back, no guarantee Black or white, rich or poor

We'll cut prices at a stroll God bless Pookie Street Viva

Pookie Street Long live Pookie Street C'est magnifique