50 Fun Facts About Only Fools and Horses

Who created and wrote every episode of Only Fools and Horses?

He also sang both theme songs himself, something often wrongly credited to Nicholas Lyndhurst.

In which south-east London district is the series set?

The Trotters' tower block, Nelson Mandela House, is fictional; the real exteriors were shot in Acton and later Bristol.

Who played Del Boy Trotter?

He was a late candidate; producer Ray Butt only thought of him after catching a repeat of Open All Hours.

Which actor, an early preference for Del Boy, instead played corrupt policeman Roy Slater?

Slater appeared three times, in 'May the Force Be With You', 'To Hull and Back' and 'Class of '62'.

What make and model is the Trotters' three-wheeled van?

One of the vans used in the series sold at auction for £44,000 in 2007.

Under what business name do the brothers operate?

Most of the trade is on the black market, from suitcases and the back of the van.

What is the name of the Trotters' tower block?

Del, Raquel and Damien live in flat 368 on the twelfth floor.

Who played Grandad in the first three series?

Sullivan wanted an actor like Steptoe's Wilfrid Brambell but thought Brambell himself too closely tied to that role.

Which episode wrote Grandad's death into the series after the actor died in 1984?

Recasting was considered disrespectful, so a new older relative was introduced instead.

Who played Uncle Albert?

He was an inexperienced amateur picked largely for his 'Captain Birdseye' white beard.

How is Uncle Albert related to Grandad?

Albert first appears at Grandad's funeral and promptly moves into the flat.

What name does Trigger insist on calling Rodney?

Trigger is apparently so called because he looks like a horse.

What is Trigger's job?

Roger Lloyd-Pack was cast by chance: Ray Butt saw him in a play he attended to watch a different actor.

Which character was given the spin-off series The Green Green Grass?

He, Marlene and son Tyler flee to a country farm to escape the Driscoll brothers.

Which character is an affable Liverpudlian lorry driver, often the victim of Del's scams?

His wife Corinne eventually walks out, leaving him more time to get dragged into Del's antics.

What is the name of the Trotters' local pub?

Its exterior was The Middlesex Arms in South Ruislip, and fan conventions still meet in pubs of the same name.

What is the name of Del Boy's long-term partner, introduced in the 1988 special 'Dates'?

Her appearance was meant as a one-off; it later emerged she had once been married to Roy Slater.

In which episode does Rodney first meet Cassandra?

The same episode contains Del's fall through the open bar flap, one of the most replayed moments in British comedy.

What is the name of Del Boy's son?

The name was Rodney's mocking suggestion; Albert worried the boy's initials spelled DDT.

How many viewers watched the 1996 episode 'Time on Our Hands', a British sitcom record?

It was billed as the finale: the Trotters finally became millionaires when an antique watch sold at auction.

In 'Time on Our Hands', who discovers the antique watch that makes the Trotters rich?

Raquel's parents, played by Michael Jayston and Ann Lynn, appear only in that episode.

In which episode do the Trotters smash a priceless chandelier?

It and the bar-flap fall invariably top polls of favourite comedy moments.

What did Del bottle and sell as a premium local brand in 'Mother Nature's Son'?

The plot was revived by the press in 2004 when Coca-Cola's Dasani turned out to be purified tap water from Sidcup.

In which episode do Del and Rodney dress up as Batman and Robin?

Body doubles in the costumes, plus the yellow van, appeared in the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Which two celebrities made cameos in the 1991 two-part special 'Miami Twice'?

The first part was the only post-1988 episode not directed by Tony Dow; producer Gareth Gwenlan took it.

Who performed the closing-credits song for 'The Jolly Boys' Outing'?

Sullivan had originally wanted the 'Rockney' duo to sing the main theme, but Ray Butt talked him into doing it himself.

What is the title of the closing-credits theme used from the second series?

The opening theme shares the show's title and explains it; Sullivan disliked Ronnie Hazlehurst's series-one tune.

What was the show's original working title?

'Only Fools and Horses' had been an episode title on his earlier sitcom Citizen Smith, and he liked the expression.

Which ITV drama's success was credited with getting the similar-premise show commissioned?

The BBC's head of comedy, John Howard Davies, commissioned a full series from a draft script.

Which earlier sitcom had the creator written before Only Fools and Horses?

He got his first break writing sketches for The Two Ronnies after 15 years of low-paid jobs.

In which part of south London was the show's creator born in 1946?

His father was an Irish-born plumber and his mother an occasional charwoman; Sullivan was made an OBE in 2005.

Who produced the show from 1981 to 1987?

He and Sullivan had become friends on Citizen Smith; Gareth Gwenlan produced from 1988 onwards.

Which Acton high-rise stood in for the Trotters' flats in the early titles?

From 1988 the exteriors moved to Whitemead House in Ashton, Bristol, behind Bristol City's ground.

In which city were the tower-block exteriors filmed from 1988 onwards?

Whitemead House sits behind Ashton Gate, and some scenes were shot in the stadium car park.

How many episodes of Only Fools and Horses were broadcast in total?

They ran on BBC1 from 8 September 1981 to 25 December 2003, across seven series and the specials.

What was the 1984 educational episode, shown only in schools, called?

Del, Rodney and Grandad discuss oil drilling in it.

Which episode was written as a finale when Jason considered leaving mid-series five?

Del would have left for Australia; a Rodney spin-off called Hot-Rod was even planned.

From which Regent Street store did Del's yuppie-era suits come, at around £200 each?

Robin Stubbs took over as costume designer for series six to match Del's new image.

After whom is Rodney named, according to 'Little Problems'?

His middle name Charlton is for Charlton Athletic, his mother's football team, not Charlton Heston as Marlene assumed.

Who is revealed in the 2003 finale to be Rodney's biological father?

Rodney spots the resemblance in an old photo from the first Jolly Boys' Outing.

How many GCEs does Rodney hold, making him the 'academic' of the family?

Sullivan partly based Rodney on his own youth as a dreamer with a much older sibling.

What was the name of Del and Rodney's mother?

She died in 1964, and Del's father Reg walked out three months later on Del's 16th birthday, taking the cake.

Which language does Del mangle with out-of-context phrases?

He says 'au revoir' for hello and 'bonjour' for goodbye.

Who played the teenage Del Boy in the prequel Rock & Chips?

The prequel ran from 2010 to 2011, and Nicholas Lyndhurst played Freddie Robdal in it.

Which footballer guest-starred in the 2014 Sport Relief special?

It aired three years after Sullivan's death, the only new episode since the 2003 Christmas finale.

Who co-wrote the 2019 stage musical with the creator's son Jim?

It opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in February 2019.

In how many years did the show win the BAFTA for best comedy series?

The wins came in 1985, 1988 and 1996, and Jason took individual BAFTAs in 1990 and 1996.

In a 2004 BBC poll, the show was voted what?

The BFI placed it 45th in its 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

Which country's remake, O Fura-Vidas, ran for three series from 1999?

Its stand-in for the Reliant was a 1988 Suzuki Super Carry; a Dutch version lasted one series in 1995.

Who wrote the 1997 parody 'Only Jerks and Horses', directed by Edgar Wright?

It spoofed American adaptations of British shows; ABC really did commission a pilot, King of Van Nuys, in 2012.