Only Fools and Horses/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Acting for Two: Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney in the series itself, and as his biological father Freddie the Frog in Rock And Chips.
  • Actor Allusion: In a Comic Relief episode Rodney says how stupid the idea of walking through a portal to the 1940's would be after Uncle Albert starts talking about the war followed by Raquel saying she's going to bed only for Del to reply "Goodnight Sweetheart." followed by a shocked look from Rodney. Del goes on to say that he is not a chief inspector.
    • This was also done the other way around--in Goodnight Sweetheart Gary (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) is about to lean back and fall through an open bar door like Del Boy famously did, but notices in time and gives an Aside Glance wink to the audience--accompanied by uproarious laughter that must seem inexplicable and random to anyone unfamiliar with the Only Fools scene in question.
  • The Character Died with Him:
    • When Lennard Pearce died, they decided to kill off Grandad (off-screen, of course). Thus the first episode made after Pearce's death begins with Grandad's funeral.
    • Like Grandad, Albert was killed off after his actor Buster Merryfield died. Although Albert died during the episode, with the first scene explaining that he hadn't joined them in the Caribbean because it had turned out the great sailor didn't have a passport.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Jim Broadbent plays Slater. Less significantly, Lennox from "The Longest Night" was played by Vas Blackwood, aka Rory Breaker in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Eagle-eyed viewers might also spot David Thewlis as one of the members of the band in "It's Only Rock and Roll".
  • Keep Circulating the Tapes:
    • Subverted; while the show is still the BBC's best-selling series of all time on both VHS and DVD, the Corporation's apparent desire to eradicate all traces of the original Ronnie Hazlehurst theme tune has led to the VHS releases of the first series (which, unlike the DVD, kept the original theme intact) becoming quite sought after by purist fans.
    • The same applies to the original version of "A Royal Flush," which is unavailable on any home video format (the VHS release had about a minute of footage removed, and the DVD release removed nearly ten minutes of footage and added a laugh track). However, the original cut still appears from time to time on the digital channels, so it's not too hard to find decent quality versions of it.
    • In a straight version, several mini-episodes such as Christmas Trees, Licensed To Drill and the Comic Relief Special have never been released on VHS or DVDs.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • Derek Edward "Del Boy" Trotter played by David Jason from 1981 to 2003, and by James Buckley in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • Edward Kitchener "Ted / Grandad" Trotter played by Lennard Pearce from 1981 to 1984, and by Phil Daniels in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • Reginald "Reg" Trotter played by Peter Woodthorpe in the 1983 OFAH Christmas special "Thicker than Water", and by Shaun Dingwall in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • Colin "Trigger" Ball played by Roger Lloyd Pack from 1981 to 2003, and by Lewis Osborne in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • Denzil Tulser played by Paul Barber from 1983 to 2005, and by Ashley Gerlach in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce played by John Challis since 1981 to 2009, and by Stephen Lloyd in the Rock And Chips trilogy.
    • DCI Roy "The Slag" Slater played by Jim Broadbent in "May The Force Be With You", the 1985 OFAH Christmas special "To Hull and Back", and "The Class of '62", and by Calum MacNab in the first two episodes of the Rock And Chips trilogy.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Jim Broadbent was John Sullivan's original choice for the role of Del Boy. While failing to get the role, he did still appear within the show as DCI Slater, who made three appearances - all highly memorable.
    • Also, the episode "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was originally written to become the final OFAH episode with Del leaving England with his friend Jumbo Mills to run a car business in Australia, thus launching a planned spin-off series called Hot-Rod, which would've been all about Rodney running Trotters Independent Traders with Mickey Pearce.
    • In the first chapter of the early 2000s Christmas trilogy, "If They Could See Us Now" (2001), The BBC wanted to get the rights from ITV to use the actual Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? gameshow with a special guest appearance from Chris Tarrant, but ITV refused because a plot point was that Del gave a correct answer and the quizmaster said it was wrong due to an error. They ended up with a blatant Expy called Goldrush, hosted by Jonathan Ross.