Complete Only Fools And Horses (Box Set) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	great fun and lots of laughter
Disadvantages:	not enough episodes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Only fools and horses began its life in 1981, penned by John Sullivan, who also wrote Citizen Smith.

The seven series, (and 19 Christmas specials) lasted through till 2003 and revolved around two main characters, Derek (Del)Trotter, (played by David Jason) and his younger brother Rodney, (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst), they lived at 23 Nelson Mandela house, a block of high rise flats in Peckham and drove a bright yellow three wheeled van with 'Trotters Independent Traders' painted on it.

Derek, or Del boy as everyone knew him, was a trader of sorts, ducking and diving through life, buying and selling anything he and his brother Rodney could get there hands on.
Rodney, however, was the more law abiding of the two, always being dragged into Dels tricks.

Other Characters

Grandad, (played by Lennard Pearce), until his death in 1984, ( John Sulliven wrote a special episode in series 4 called "strained relations" to mark grandads funeral. Grandad was the cook/cleaner and general household dogsbody in the flat, sometimes becoming the butt of Dels jokes.

Uncle Albert, (played by Buster Merryfield), the old seadog who had many a story to tell to anyone that would listen.
Albert was abandoned by his relatives at Grandads funeral and took over the general duties of the flat.

Trigger, (Roger Lloyd Pack) was seen in many episodes, his stupidity creating many laughs and much confusion amongst the cast.

Boycie (John Challis) was the dodgy car salesman with a snobby attitude, looking down on everyone else from his mansion, with his dopey wife Marlene, (Sue Holderness) who would give the world for her own child, unfortunately Boycie is not up to the job in hand.

Mickey Pearce (Patrick Murrey) played the small minded, big headed friend of Rodneys. Bragging about his alleged successes with the ladies. His dress sense becoming a bit of a joke.

Mike (Kenneth MacDonald) played the Landlord of the Nags Head, the local pub where the characters drank together, he was always trying to get Del to pay his tab.
Sadly Kenneth died in 2001 and it was written that he was sent to prison for embalmment in the brewery.

Denzil (Paul Barber) played Dels Black olds school friend from Liverpool, his character unable to refuse Dels and his scams. Denzils wife, Corrine (Eva Mottley) wearing the trousers in that relationship, hating the fact that Del and Denzil were friends.

Cassandra (Gwyneth Strong) a middle class lady who worked in a bank, became Rodneys girlfriend after they met at college when they mixed there coats up.
They ended up getting married and eventually had a daughter.

Raquel (Tessa Peake-Jones) was a failed singer and actress. She became Dels girlfriend through a dating agency.
They split up after Del discovered about her part time career, when she appeared as the stripper at the Nags head, much to the amusement of the regulars.

Damien (played by six actors during his time) was the son of Raquel and Del, named so because Rodney thought he was the Devils child like in the film 'Omen' , Del taking the name seriously.

And so the story begins………..

Series 1. (1981)
(Directed by Martin Shardlow./ Produced by Ray Butt)

(1)-Big brother-
Del thinks he's made a good investment when he buys a some reject vinyl brief cases from trigger, but there's a catch with the cases. Meanwhile Rodney is talking of leaving the partnership of Trotters Independent Traders)

(2)-Go west young man-
Rodney's not impressed when Mickey Pearce moves in on his girlfriend, Del offers to look after a sporty motor for Boycie after buying a dodgy car on the cheap, selling the cheap car to a not so impresses Aussie leads to trouble.

(3)-Cash and carry-
Del is happy to mediate a deal between two feuding people over a statue, hoping to make a quick buck.

(4)-The second time around-
Rodney and Grandad are not impressed when an old flame of Dels begins to take over the flat.

(5)-A slow bus to Chingford-
Rodney becomes a night watchman and Dels attempts to set up Trotters Ethnic tours don't go to plan.

(6)-The Russian are coming-
When Del buys some lead sheets it turns out that it is a do-it-yourself nuclear bunker. Rodney convinces them to build it and spend the weekend in it "just in case of a nuclear war"

*The first Christmas special
(Produced and directed by Bernard Thompson)

(7)-Christmas cracker-
A Christmas with the boys. After tasting Grandads burnt Christmas dinner offerings Del and Rodney decide to visit a club in the hope of 'pulling' a couple of 'birds'.

Series 2 (1982)
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

(1)-The long legs of the law-
Rodney decides to date a police woman and send Dels world upside down in the process. Del and Grandad have trouble deciding what is 'hookey' and what is straight in the flat before Rodney brings his new girlfriend back.

(2)-Ashes to ashes-
Triggers nan dies and Del offers to buy some of the 'goods' in her house, he has his eyes on a pair of urns which he knows can fetch a few quid, but he has trouble with what they find inside them.

(3)-A losing streak-
Del is losing money at poker and decides to gamble everything on a big game with Boycie, Mike and trigger. Everyone knows who is cheating but no one can prove it. Even Grandads lucky two-headed coin doesn't always win.

(4)-No greater love-
Trouble fro Rodney as he dates an older woman whose husband is due to be releases from Parkhurst prison. Del steps in and messes things up then deals with the husband for the sake of Rodney…but does he get a thanks?

(5)-The yellow peril-
Del is hired to re-decorate the kitchen of the local Chinese take-away after he acquires some paint from Trigger. Rodney, with his GCE in art, and Grandad do a great job but the colour scheme is not what was expected, especially as Del used some of the same paint for a 'special' job of his own.

(6)-It never rains-
The Trotters go on holiday to Spain where Grandad gets into a bit of trouble with the police.

(7)-A touch of glass-
A classic episode when Del convinces a lord that he and Rodney come from a long line of Chandelier restorers. They are offered the job of taking down and cleaning some in a mansion.

*1982 Christmas special
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

(8)-Diamonds are for heather-
Del meets a woman and quickly plans to get engaged, only to have his heart broken at the final hurdle.

Series 3 (1983)
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

(1)-Homesick-
Grandad is not well. When Rodney becomes chairman of the residents association he realises too late that Del has already set a scheme in motion to help the trotters get a nice little bungalow with a garden

(2)-Healthy competition-
Rodney leaves Trotters Independent Traders and goes into partnership with Mickey Pearce, much to the delight of Del. When Rodney and Mickey buy a pile of lawn mower engines from an auction he finds out the hard way who his true friends are.

(3)-Friday the 14th-
On an illegal fishing trip to Cornwall Del, Rodney and Grandad run into trouble from the nearby lunatic asylum. With Del on the brink of being murdered he still finds time fro a money earner.

(4)-Yesterday never comes-
Del thinks his luck in love has changed when he becomes involved with a posh lady antique dealer, little does he realise that she's interested in more than Dels bad French and loud dress sense.

(5)-May the force be with you-
DCI Slater, an old school friend of Dels, arrives on the estate looking for some stolen Microwave oven. It's not
long before he's terrorising Del and the regulars at the Nags head.

(6)-Wanted-
Rodney tries to help a lady in distress only for her to mistake him for a pervert. He is nick-named 'the Peckham pouncer' by Del. But before Del can tell Rodney that it is all a mistake Rodney decides to go into hiding.

(7)-Who's a pretty boy then-
The trio offer to paint Denzils front room, to the discust of Corrine, Denzils wife. She doesn't trust Del and she has every reason not to when things start to go wrong for the decorators and the wild life.

*1983 Christmas special
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

Thicker than water-
It's going to be a long Christmas when Del and Rodney's dad turns up to give them both some bad news.

Series 4 (1985)
(Produced by Ray Butt/Directed by Susan Belbin)

(1)-Happy returns-
Rodney finds himself a new girlfriend but could the girl be Dels daughter? Del thinks so.

(2)-Strained relation-
This special episode was written after the death of Lennard Pearce. The story starts with the funeral of Grandad and the arrival of his brother, 'Uncle Albert', Alberts relatives dump him at the Trotters flat and do a runner, leaving Del and Rodney to deal with all the old sea stories, (and there are a lot of them).

(3)-Hole in one-
When Del is short of cash Albert decides to try and help out with the aid of his army training, but will he just create more trouble?

(4)-It's only rock and roll-
Rodney becomes a member of a head banging band and Del immediately realises he can make money from them. Only for the band to reach great heights after Rodney resigns.

(5)-Sleeping dogs lie-
When Boycie and Marlene go away on holiday Del and Rodney offer to watch the dog. Marlene treats the dog as a baby and Del is delighted with the fresh meat the dog eats, only for the pork to stir up some troubles.

(6)-Watching the girls go by-
Rodney and Mickey Pearce have a bet on whether Rodney can bring a girl to the party at the Nags head. When Del smells an earner he decides to offer Rodney his help.

(7)-As one door closes-
Del borrows some money from Denzil to buy a batch of 'louvre' doors in the hope of doubling his money but when the deal goes 'pear shaped' he needs to get some cash quick to pay Denzil back before Denzils brother get him. Rodney finds the answer but they have to catch it first.

*Christmas special 1985
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

To Hull and back-
All goes wrong when Del tries to smuggle some diamonds out of Amsterdam, only for DCI Slater to catch them and show his true colours.

Series 5 (1986)
(Produced by Ray Butt/ directed by Ray Butt and Mandie Fletcher)

(1)-From Prussia with love-
Rodney helps out a lost heavily pregnant German girl who's in two minds whether to keep the baby, Del realises that he can make money on this from Boycie and Marlene.

(2)-The Miracle of Peckham-
When Del realises the local Hospice is in financial need he steps in to help raise some cash. Fortunately Del stumbles upon a miracle in the church and the money starts rolling in, but is this miracle man made?

(3)-The longest night-
Del, Rodney and Grandad are held hostage over night at the super market by the notorious 'shadow', only to realise that not all is what it seems when the truth of the night finally comes out.

(4)-Tea for three-
Triggers niece arrives at the Nags Head and Del and Rodney go all out to impress her. Del accidentally takes up hand gliding after boasting about his past parachute experiences.

(5)-Video nasty-
Rodney gets a council grant to make a video of inner city life, Mickey Pearce is the camara man and decides to earn extra money by videoing certain types of films. Del realises that he can make a nice little earner from this situation as well.

(6)-Who want to be a millionaire-
Del meets up with an old friend and business partner, who emigrated to Australia many years ago. The offer of a new life in Australia to start up a new business together is very tempting for Del, but News about Rodney has implications for the plan.

*Christmas special (1986)
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt)

A royal flush-
Rodney new girlfriend turns out to be the daughter of a duke and Del is well impressed with the idea of 'hob-knobbing' with the toffs, especially enjoying the pheasant shoot with a borrowed shotgun.

*Christmas special (1987)
(Produced and directed by Ray Butt

The frogs legacy-
When Del finds out that a 'Freddie the frog', a bank robber from years ago, had left his dead mum thousands of pounds worth of gold bullion, his only problem is that 'freddie' was killed before he could tell anyone where the loot is. Del sets out to find it in this excellent episode with a bit of a twist at the end.

*Christmas special (1988)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Dates-
Del joins a dating agency to see if his luck with the ladies can improve, his huge ego emerging as he sells himself on camera for all the ladies to admire, (or laugh at). This is where he meets Raquel.

Series 6 (1989)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

(1)-Yuppy love-
Del believes he's 'Yuppie', as he mingles with the rich kids in the wine bars. Rodney is still at night school trying to get his degree in computing and this is where he meets Cassandra. In this episode watch out for the scene when Del and Trigger are trying to impress the ladies in one of the wine bars, keep your eyes on Del and watch for the hilarious sequence of events.

(2)-Danger UXD-
Denzil finds himself with a box full of 'blow up dolls' after collecting them from a warehouse. Dell, seeing a nice little earner, decides to buy them without realising that they are very dangerous due to a mistake at the factory.

(3)-Chain gang-
Del meets a retired jeweller who has a brief case full of gold chain for sale. Del and his consortium, (consisting of Boycie, Mike, Trigger, Uncle Albert and Rodney) decide to buy the gold but as usual there is always a twist to what seems like a straight forward plan.

(4)-The unlucky winner is-
Del is going through a stage of entering competitions when he suddenly wins a painting competition in Rodneys name, a trip for three to Spain. Rodney and Cassandra are well impressed until the truth comes out when they land at the Spanish airport. The holiday is not what Rodney and Cassandra had hoped for.

(5)-Sickness and wealth-
Del finds himself in hospital after telling a few fibs to his doctor. He believe he may have a serious illness until he meets up with his old doctor who tells him the truth. (Watch out for Dels pyjamas as he lies in the hospital bed)

(6)-Little problem-
Del is in a dilemma when he is approached by the 'Driscal brothers', they want the money that he has promised Rodney for his deposit for a new flat when he a Cassandra get married.

*Christmas special (1989)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

The jolly boys outing-
The regulars from the Nags head go for a 'beano' to Margate.
This is another explosive episode as they find themselves stranded in Margate on bank holiday weekend with all the hotels full.
Rodney gets on the wrong side of the law and Cassandra.

*Christmas special (1990)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Rodney comes home-
Rodney and Cassandra argue about Cassandras new work college. Rodney ends up moving back in with Del and Uncle Albert.

Series 7 (1990)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

(1)-The sky's the limit-
Del acquires a satellite dish but soon realises things could get tricky when he finds out that it came from the runway at Gatwick airport. The missing dish creates a few problems for Rodneys plans as Cassandra plane is due in at the airport.

(2)-The chance of a lunchtime-
Raquel wants to re-enter the show biz world and Del offers to help her rehearse. Rodney and Cassandra are on the verge of getting back together until she sees him with another woman and jumps to the wrong conclusion.Then Rodney makes a bit of an error regarding working for Cassandras dad.

(3)-Stage fright-
Del offers Raquels singing services for a caberet at the starlight club for one of the old time gangsters mother. Raquel is afraid to sing alone so Del finds her a singing partner, Tony Angelino, little realising that there is a bit of a problem with Tonys singing voice, much to the amusement of the crowd.

(4)-The class of 62-
Mike organises a reunion for some old school chums, the only person who turns up is ex DCI Slater who says he has returned to make amends….

(5)-He aint heavy, he's my uncle-
Uncle Albert returns back to the flat all battered and bruised claiming he has been mugged…the truth soon surfaces.

(6)-Three men, a woman and a baby-
Rodney tries to impress Cassandra with a pony tailed wig which Del is trying to sell. Cassandra is not impressed at all but things are looking up. Then a phone call alerts Rodney to the fact that Raquels gone into labour.
The scenes at the hospital with Del are classics.

*Christmas special 1(1991)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Miami twice: the american dream, & Miami Twice: oh to be in England,-
Damien has his Christening. Del advises Rodney to take Cassandra away on holiday, knowing full well that she can not make it so he offers to take her place to Miami.
When they arrive in Miami they are shown overwhelming hospitality by the family of a mafia boss as they see Del is the spitting image of the boss.
When Del and Rodney finally find out what is happening they flee, bumping into the holidaying Boycie, Marlene and tyler, (there son).
When Del gets back to England he comes across some Romanian Riesling and is trying to sell it as pre-blessed communion wine.

*Christmas special (1992)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Mother nature's son-
Del comes up with a plan to sell bottle water as Peckham spring water and all seems well until some toxic drums are found dumped in the water supply. Who put the drums there is any ones guess.

*Christmas special (1993)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Fatal extraction-
Peckham is in the middle of riot season and Del is upsetting Raquelby spending more time at the 1-11 club. She leaves him and Del decides to go out dating again only to discover that he is being stalked by a dental receptionist.
(Del and Raquel split temp. del is stalked by a nurse)

*Christmas special (1996)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Heroes and villains-
The brothers come unstuck when there car breaks down in the middle of Peckham whilst they are on there way to a fancy dress party dressed as Batman and Robin, they decide to abandon the vehicle and make a run for it down the back streets.

Modern man-
Del's attempts to be a more 'modern man' lead to some hilarious scenes in this episode.
There is a sad moment when Cassandra has a miscarriage, and from the way Del reacts to the news you would think that he was the father.

Time on our hands-
In this final episode of the seven series (not including the special episodes), Raquel dad discovers a rare item which Del had in his garage for years, not realising its true worth.
When the item goes to auction it sells for a vast amount which surprises the brothers.It may take the trotters some time to get used to the fact that they don't have to duck and dive any more.

*Christmas special (2001)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

If they could see us now-
In this episode Uncle Albert dies and there's a little confusion at the funeral.
Also, with Dels skills with money it is not long before their vast fortune is lost in some dodgy stocks and share, leaving the pair as penniless as before and living back in Nelson Mandela house.

*Christmas special (2002)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Strangers on the shore-
The brothers decide to go on a booze cruise to France to honour the memory of Uncle Albert at a memorial service, only to discover that when Albert was in a village during the war he may have left one or two things behind.

*Christmas special (2003)
(Produced by Gareth Gwenlan/ directed by Tony Dow)

Sleepless in Peckham-
Rodney and Cassandra finally build there family when Cassandra has a baby but Rodney hears some news concerning his relationship to Del.
Marlene goes missing but when she reappears she has a couple of new additions..!!
Another classic episode to end the Only fools and horses series.

A few phrases became famous thank to Del boy….

'pukka'
'luvly juvly'
'This time next year we'll be millionaires'
'Rodney.. you plonker'
'You're a proper twenty four carrot plonker'

and Uncle Albert always started his war time stories with "During the war................."