Sir David Jason reveals mistake in 90s that ended Only Fools and Horses-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Only Fools and Horses returned for specials in the 1990s and 2000s (Picture: BBC/Alamy/Studio Crook)

Sir David Jason has confessed that a major mistake in a 1990s episode of Only Fools and Horses left the show with ‘nowhere to go’.

The classic BBC sitcom, starring Sir David and Nicholas Lyndhurst, originally ran between 1981 and 1991 before coming back for 10 special episodes between 1991 and 2003.

One of the most popular British sitcoms of all time, it followed the lives of half-brothers Derek (‘Del Boy’) and Rodney Trotter as they attempted to get rich.

The 1996 Christmas special, titled Time On Our Hands, was believed by many to be the final episode of the series, with 24.3 million viewers tuning in.

In the episode, Del Boy and Rodney finally (and famously) secured their millions after selling a valuable old watch for more than £6 million (£11.7 million in 2024).

However, the series then carried on with three more Christmas specials in 2001, 2002, and 2003 – it’s an era of the show Sir David now looks back on less fondly than he used to.

‘There was nowhere to go after the Trotters became millionaires’ (Picture: BBC)

Speaking at a recent fan convention, he told the audience: ‘There was nowhere to go after the Trotters became millionaires and it all worked out. It was the end of a journey.’

He continued: ‘The journey was that struggle for survival, the struggle for the family, the way that they behaved. All of that stuff that made the Trotters ceased to exist once they had become millionaires.’

John Sullivan, who wrote the series from beginning to end, revived the series six years after the Trotters got their millions, but the three Christmas specials in the 21st century lost viewers each year.

Sir David played Del Boy for 22 years on TV(Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

The specials saw Del Boy and Rodney lose their millions after bad investments, returning them to their flat in Peckham after all those years away.

Sir David said of the 2000s episodes: ‘It wasn’t that John had run out of steam so much, but he was so used to working mentally with all of the characters, the style of the cut and thrust of learning to survive on the edge of disaster, as it were.’

The first Christmas special, from 2001, was watched by 21.3 million people, while the 2002 and 2003 episodes attracted audiences of 17.4 and then 16.3 million – the lowest audiences of Only Fools’ 1990s-2000s era.

However, Sir David still looks back with a smile – why wouldn’t he? – as Del Boy has become synonymous with Sir David himself, despite the problems it sometimes poses.

Speaking in March, he said: ‘Del Boy is a character that I can’t avoid. He’s become so ingrained in the public’s mind that, where I go, I tend to be recognised. Then what happens is that people can’t help but interfere with your private life.

‘It’s part of the job. It’s part of giving your time and your life to the Great British public, God bless them.’

Watch Only Fools and Horses on SkyGo and ITVX.

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