40 YEARS OF ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES

And to celebrate, here are twenty facts about the programme:

1) There is no such vehicle as a ‘Robin Reliant’.

2) The idea of Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter using a Reliant came from the show’s creator John Sullivan.

3) Filming for the first series began in May of 1981.

4) In reality, the ‘Nelson Mandela House’ in the opening credits was Harlech Tower in East Acton.

5) The original title was Readies, as Sullivan thought characters like Del never dealt in credit cards or cheques.

6) Series one featured a theme tune by Ronnie Hazlehurst:

The show used Sullivan’s composition Hooky Street from series two onwards.

7) David Jason was not the first choice for Del Boy. He recently wrote:

“Enn Reitel, a great comic actor and voice specialist, was apparently the first port of call. He was busy on something else, so Jim Broadbent was offered the role. He turned it down because he was about to start work in a play. I’m told that Robin Nedwell, of the Doctor In The House comedy series, and Billy Murray, who was later on The Bill and EastEnders, may also have been considered. There could well have been others. By the most conservative estimate, I was merely the fifth option on the list.”

8) At one point, Jason was considered for the role of ‘Granddad’.

9) The show would employ a total of six Reliants, although some claim it was as many as 18.

10) Only Fools and Horses is associated with a 1966 Regal Supervan III, but the Trotters drive an H-registered example in the early episodes.

11) The original Regal was sourced from Action Cars in Harrow.

12) One problem with the Reliant often encountered by the production was their state of decay.

13) The logo ‘New York-Paris-Peckham’ was inspired by the slogan on Dunhill cigarettes packets: ‘New York-London-Paris’.

14) Del was said to have sold is his Vespa to buy the van. However, the first series established that he also possessed a full car driving licence; in Cash & Curry, he pilots a very down at heel 1964 Vauxhall Velox PB 2.6-l

15) In the second episode of Season One, Go West, Young Man. Del is attempting to sell a very down at heel 1967 Ford Cortina Mk. II Crayford Convertible for £199 that he acquired for £50.

16) In that same episode one Herman Terrance Aubrey ‘Boycie’ Boyce had recently acquired a 1973 Old English White Jaguar E-Type Series III with automatic transmission. “You know it’s only the E-Type Jaguar and Sebastian Coe that can make me feel proud to be British these days”.

17) The Jaguar, registration UYP 694 M, was sold by Henleys of London on the 11 October 1973. It was loaned to the BBC by its owner. At the 2016 Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace, it was auctioned for £115,880.

18) The Alma pub in Islington inspired The Nag’s Head.

19) Sullivan recalled the BBC becoming ‘incredibly quiet’ after the second series. However, following repeats in the summer, ‘suddenly it went up to number four or five. From nothing at all they wanted two series, 14 episodes straight off’.

20) One of Jason’s inspirations for Derek Trotter was someone he knew during his early career as an electrician.

With thanks to: The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.

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