Only Fools and Horses…. is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003. Episodes are regularly repeated on UKTV comedy channel Gold.
Set in Peckham in south-east London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger brother Rodney Trotter, and Lennard Pearce as their elderly Grandad as their sidekick. Backed by a strong supporting cast, the series follows the Trotters’ highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich.
After Lennard Pearce’s death in 1984, the show introduced a new sidekick Uncle Albert, the boys’ great uncle played by Buster Merryfield. From 1988 onwards, the show features regular characters in Del Boy and Rodney’s love interests, Raquel (Tessa Peake-Jones) and Cassandra (Gwyneth Strong) respectively. Other recurring characters include haughty car dealer Boycie (John Challis), dim-witted road sweeper Trigger (Roger Lloyd-Pack), lorry driver Denzil (Paul Barber), obnoxious spiv Mickey Pearce (Patrick Murray) and bartender Mike (Kenneth MacDonald).
The show achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the last ever episode) holds the record for the highest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting over 24.3 million viewers. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain’s Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll Del Boy was ranked fourth on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. The series influenced British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language. It spawned an extensive range of merchandise, including books, videos, DVDs, toys, and board games.
