Lost Only Fools and Horses episode revealed

• Bang Showbiz
• 27 February 2021

Sir David Jason

A special episode of ‘Only Fools and Horses’ had been planned to mark the 30th anniversary of the comedy show but writer John Sullivan died before completing it

A lost ‘Only Fools and Horses’ episode would have seen Del Boy celebrate his retirement in the Nag’s Head.

The special was planned to mark the comedy show’s 30th anniversary but writer John Sullivan died in April 2011 before finishing the script.

John Challis, 78, who played Del Boy’s (Sir David Jason) nemesis Boycie, told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: “The 30th anniversary was coming up and John was in the process of getting together a Christmas special or something.

“It was going to be Del Boy’s 65th birthday, he was going to retire and there was going to be a bit of a get-together in the Nag’s Head. But unfortunately he (John) got ill and didn’t come out of it.”

Speaking about Sullivan’s death, he added: “It was a complete shock to everybody. We got a phone call from the producers giving us the bad news.”

John was just 64 when he passed away after battling viral pneumonia.

Meanwhile, a set of ‘Only Fools and Horses’ stamps were released this month by Royal Mail.

The lovely jubbly set of 12, which features classic scenes and iconic one-liners from the sitcom – which starred Sir David and Nicholas Lyndhurst as market traders Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter and his younger brother Rodney Trotter – went on sale to mark 40 years since the show began.

Royal Mail’s Philip Parker said: “The superb writing, comic one-liners and the warmth and idiosyncrasies of its characters made ‘Only Fools And Horses’ one of the most loved TV comedies of all time.

“We celebrate 40 years of the Trotters’ wheeling and dealing, with new stamps revisiting some of the show’s classic moments.”

The first ‘Only Fools’ episode, ‘Big Brother’, aired in September 1981, and the final episode, ‘Sleepless in Peckham’, was broadcast on Christmas Day 2003.