Only Fools and Horses is a BAFTA winning British television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. Episodes are regularly repeated on GOLD.

Set in Peckham in south London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger brother Rodney, and Lennard Pearce as their ageing grandfather (later replaced by Buster Merryfield as their Uncle Albert). Backed by a strong supporting cast, the series chronicles their highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich.

After a relatively slow start the show went on to achieve consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time On Our Hands" holds the record for the highest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers (over a third of the population). 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.

It also had an impact on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language and boosting the popularity of the Reliant Regal van. It spawned an extensive range of merchandise, including books, DVDs, toys and board games. A spin-off series, The Green Green Grass, has run for four series in the UK. A prequel, Rock & Chips, was first aired in January 2010.





note:i have not included the christmas episode[christmas crackers] as i am upping the collection of specials as a torrent




series one

Series One begins with Del almost getting conned by Trigger - a rare event in the lives of the Trotter family. This is followed by Boycie's car getting wrecked, a con over a curry, a homicidal ex-fiancee, a bus tour that no-one wants to take, and the onset of World War 3.



Big Brother

Transmitted: 15.9.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 9.2 million

Del employs younger brother Rodney as a member of Trotters' Independent Traders, despite warnings from his business colleagues.

When Rodney decides to become the Trotters' financial adviser - monitoring the accounts and keeping Del's dodgy dealings in check - Del has second thoughts about their partnership.

Cracks show in the partnership when Rodney inadvertently bungles a deal with Trigger. But despite Del's anger, it turns out that Rodder's advice would have prevented the purchase of 25 briefcases that are locked with the serial number inside.

Del and Rodney have yet another row and 'Little Bruv' plans a career change. Desperate to make his mark on the world, Rodney decides to leave for Hong Kong - a great plan, if only he'd remembered his passport.


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Go West Young Man

Transmitted: 15.9.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 6.1 million

Del and Rodney are once again hunting for bargains. And after stopping off at Boycie's car lot they spy a Mark II Cortina that's being used as a part-exchange for a Vanden Plas. Del knocks the asking price down to £25, so long as he houses Boycie's E type jag for a week - Del hopes to use the Jag to impress his bit on the side.

Del ups the price tag of the Cortina to £199 and gets interest from an Australian buyer. And with cash in their pockets, a Jag to drive, and both of them single, Rodney talks Del into heading off for a night on the tiles.

The Trotters' night out doesn't start too well, as they are chatted up by a pair of transvestites in a nightclub. But their luck changes in the form of Nicky and Michelle, who they manage to chat up and persuade them to write their telephone numbers on Del's cigar pack, with the promise of a date next Friday.

On their way home, Rodney accidentally throws the cigar pack out of the window of the Jag, and when Del makes an emergency stop, a car smashes into the back of Boycie's pristine E-type. To top it off, the car responsible for writing-off the Jag is none other than the clapped out Cortina.
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Cash and Curry

Transmitted: 22.9.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 7.3 million

Eager to forge new business contacts, Del befriends Vimmal Malik, a wealthy businessman who seems eager to work with Trotters Independent Traders.

After a dance at the Camberwell Chamber of Trade, Del and Vimmal are cornered by Mr Ram and his heavy boys. It seems that Vimmal is holding onto a pricey porcelain family heirloom that belongs to the Ram family - and they want it back.

In order to make an impression, Del offers to mediate between the two men, especially because Mr Ram is willing to pay four grand for the return of the statue to his family.

Unluckily for Del the four grand is just a ruse and he ends up losing a fortune to Vimmal and Mr Ram, a couple of conmen touring the country using the same scam on local businessmen wherever they go.
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The Second Time Around

Transmitted: 29.9.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 7.8 million

Del meets Trigger in The Nags Head, and he's stunned to hear that Pauline Harris, his ex-fiancée, is back in Peckham - twelve years after she left for America.

Despite their engagement, Pauline left Del for another Mod with a faster scooter. But with her return, Del is willing to forgive and forget, and it's not long before they are engaged again - much to the disapproval of Rodney and Grandad.

Things get worse when Pauline moves into the flat and refuses to do her share of the housework. As her behaviour becomes unbearable, Rodders and Gramps leave for Auntie Rose's cottage in Clacton.

Del hears rumours about a recent police investigation into the death of Pauline's former husband (Bobby Finch), and when Pauline urges him to take out life insurance, a frightened Del heads for Clacton, leaving an eviction notice for his fiancée.
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A Slow Bus To Chingford

Transmitted: 6.10.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 7 million

The trouble starts when Del persuades the local bus company to hand over one of their open-top buses in exchange for Rodney working as a Trainee Nocturnal Security Officer - part of their latest company, Trotter Watch.

As part of the deal, Rodney has to suffer the nerve-jangling experience of patrolling the bus station on Tyler Street throughout the night.

The next part of Del's scheme is the launch of Trotters' Ethnic Tours: a scenic tour around Chingford and Croydon, taking in such ethnic sights as the Lee Valley Viaduct. And despite a great deal of whinging from his family, Del persuades Rodney to drive the bus, whilst Grandad agrees to distribute the publicity leaflets.

But when nobody turns up to the launch of Trotters' Ethnic Tours, it is revealed that Grandad shares the legendary Trotter business acumen and has posted the advertising leaflets through the dust chute of Mandela House.
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The Russians Are Coming

Transmitted: 13.10.1981
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 8.8 million

Another successful dodgy deal means Del has over a grand's worth of lead from a disused factory to get rid of. When Rodney points out the three tons of lead are in fact a D.I.Y nuclear fall-out shelter, Del refuses to believe him until he reads the accompanying brochure.

With the threat of nuclear holocaust preying on Rodney's nerves he asks Del what he'd do if he heard the four minute warning. Without an answer, Del considers putting a survival plan into action that means reaching Grandad's allotment in time to take shelter.

It's during a practice run for the Trotter counter-strike survival plan that they get stopped for speeding by the police - they never get to find out whether they'd make it in time.