When John Sullivan pitched a sitcom about two dodgy market traders from Peckham trying to get rich quick, the BBC wasn't exactly throwing money at him. In fact, "Only Fools and Horses" nearly didn't happen at all. The original script sat gathering dust for months before getting grudgingly commissioned in 1981, and when it finally aired, it pulled in viewing figures so modest that cancellation seemed inevitable. Yet this show about lovable rogues flogging hooky gear from a three-wheeled van would eventually become the most beloved British sitcom of all time.
The genius of Del Boy and Rodney Trotter was that they were simultaneously aspirational and utterly hopeless. David Jason's Derek "Del Boy" Trotter was a wide boy with delusions of grandeur, convinced that his latest scheme would finally make him a millionaire. His younger brother Rodney, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst, was the reluctant sidekick with just enough education to know they were doomed to fail. What made them magical together was the genuine affection beneath the bickering. Sullivan based their relationship on his own experiences growing up in South London, and that authenticity showed in every scene. The chemistry was so perfect that it's hard to believe Jason wasn't the original choice for Del Boy—the role was first offered to Jim Broadbent and Enn Reitel before landing with Jason.
The show's slower start actually worked in its favour, giving Sullivan time to develop the characters and their world. Peckham's Nelson Mandela House tower block became as much a character as the Trotters themselves, populated with unforgettable faces like Trigger (the dim but loveable road sweeper who called Rodney "Dave" for two decades), Boycie (the flash car dealer), and Uncle Albert with his endless wartime stories. Buster Merryfield, who played Albert from 1985 onwards, was actually a bank manager who'd only taken up acting after retirement at 57. His addition came after Lennard Pearce, who played Grandad, tragically died in 1984. Rather than recasting, Sullivan wrote in a new character, showing the respect and sensitivity that made the show special.
The Christmas specials became national events, with the 1996 episode "Time On Our Hands" drawing 24.3 million viewers—a record for a British sitcom that still stands. That's roughly one in three people in the entire country tuning in to watch Del Boy finally strike it rich by discovering a rare pocket watch in his garage. The irony wasn't lost on anyone: after years of failed schemes involving blow-up dolls, Latvian camcorders, and paint that made everything glow radioactive yellow, the Trotters' fortune came from something that had been sitting under their noses all along.
What keeps "Only Fools and Horses" timeless isn't just the physical comedy—though Del Boy falling through the bar or the chandelier scene are burned into British cultural memory—it's the heart. These were characters who failed constantly but never gave up, who lived in poverty but maintained their dignity and humour. Sullivan's scripts balanced slapstick with genuinely poignant moments, like Del Boy's quiet grief or Rodney's wedding day. The show ran until 2003, spanning 64 episodes and 16 specials across three decades.
Here's the kicker: that iconic yellow Reliant Regal van with "Trotters Independent Traders" on the side? The BBC only agreed to buy it if the show got a second series. Sullivan was so convinced in his creation that he bought it himself with his own money. This time next year, he thought, we'll be millionaires. Turns out, he wasn't wrong. The show has generated over £1 billion in revenue and made Sullivan one of Britain's richest writers. Not bad for a sitcom about losers, really.