Obligatory title using plonker and dipstick (Only Fools and Horses)

Member Name: dave27

Product:	Only Fools and Horses
Date:	27/06/02 (215 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good scripts, Good characterisation

Disadvantages: Too much of an institution these days

We've got some half price cracked ice and miles and miles of carpet tiles,
T.V.s, deep freeze and David Bowie L.P.s,
Ball games, gold chains, whatsnames, pictures frames and leather goods,
And Trevor Francis track suits from a mush in Shepherds Bush,

Bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush ...

No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Black or white, rich or poor,
We'll cut prices at a stroke......


Great British institutions of our time - part 101

Subject: Only Fools and Horses


For the real business of Only Fools and Horses, you really should scoot on over to http://www.danielthorley.com/ofah/ and check out Daniel Thorley's tribute website, which includes the following background info:

"Brought up in Balham, (John) Sullivan credits his inspirational English teacher Jim Trowers as the man who opened his eyes to books and first sparked his love of writing. And Mr Trowers' council flat in Farnham, with its wildly clashing walls and carpets, certainly provided John Sullivan with food for thought when he was first describing Del's colourful home in Nelson Mandela House. Sullivan openly admits that he sat down to write Only Fools & Horses for one reason. Quite simply, it was out of desparation. "I wrote the pilot out of a desperate need to get some money," he declared. He had orginally broached the idea verbally with his BBC bosses but had received only a lukewarm response. Sullivan has envisaged Readies, as he initially called the series, as being set in a modern, multiracial London which could be a bit violent and where the language was certainly colourful. In retrospect, he feels it was the lively language of the streets which initially frightened off his BBC superiors. 'The attitude was "We're not keen on this,"' he recalls. 'But with Citizen Smith finished and my new show killed, I had nothing. I di
dn't know what to do.'"


Sorry about that lengthy quotation, but Thorley's tribute is undoubtedly the solution to every Fools anorak's prayers and it's as well to publicise his efforts.

Watch the first series of this programme and then go straight on to the later shows - what amazing developments! There's no comparison. The way that Del Boy changed from a barrow boy to a sophisticated(!) yuppie about town but remained a loser at heart is one thing, but Rodney changed from a kid with an IQ of 3 to a big business entrepreneur with a wife who's big in banking.

Anyway, back to the review. This programme was consistently funny throughout its various stages and was always very well observed. The supporting cast of characters was very strong and the plotlines were excellent.

I have to say that I struggle to watch the endless repeat showings but that when you saw them for the first time they were some of the most eagerly awaited events in the television schedules.

It's part of the furniture now, but it struggled more than somewhat when it first started.

Peckham will never seem the same again.

Only Fools and Horses first appeared on British screens in September 1981 and it ran until 1991, although the inevitable Christmas specials went on going until 1996.

David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were undoubtedly the stars of the show, and for them both it was (and still is) very much the biggest thing they have ever achieved. In fact, most of their other work is so far behind OFAH that it's difficult to really imagine them in anything else.

Despite their dominance of everything on screen, part of the magic of the series is undoubtedly the full and rich array of supporting characters. Initially Grandad and later Uncle Albert were decent foils to the continual bickering and knockabout fun of the two dim witted brothers, but others like Boycey, Trigger,
Delroy and the rest add colour and life to the world of Trotters Independent Trading.

John Sullivan will never write a more successful piece of work, and it is the gentle and loving portrayal of working class (or black market) Britain in back street London which really hits home.

I got slightly jaundiced by all those repeats and the lack of objectivity shown by people who rave about the series get on my nerves an awful lot and prevent me really loving OFAH as much as I should. You could say the same for Fawlty Towers and One Foot In The Grave, but with those two the depth and hidden secrets of the scripts allow the shows to withstand the continual reruns. OFAH doesn't quite have the same depth, or changes in approach - see one episode of OFAH and you've seen them all, although there were major modifications in Del Boy and Rodney with each successive series.

On the whole, I can do nothing else but highly recommend Only Fools and Horses, although Del and Rodney will never match Basil and Victor in my memory.

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