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£1m puts Del Boy back on screen

Revival of BBC's classic sitcom makes antics of Trotter clan the most expensive TV comedy in UK

Matt Wells, media correspondent

Wednesday August 8, 2001

The Guardian

The BBC is to spend £1m per episode on a revival of the classic sitcom Only Fools and Horses, making it one of the most

expensive television comedies ever made in Britain.

Convinced that the three one-off episodes will prove hits, the BBC has sanctioned the unusually large budgets to secure the

services of the writer and the stars.

David Jason will get more than £100,000 an episode for playing the hapless Del Boy. Nicholas Lyndhurst, who plays his

sidekick Rodney, is a much bigger star than when the series was first filmed and will be able to command a similarly high fee.

The writer, John Sullivan, will also get a hefty slice of the budget.

One episode of an average sitcom would normally only cost about £500,000 to make. Even an hour of lavish costume drama

would usually set the BBC back just £750,000. But savings initiated by the director general, Greg Dyke, has meant that

more money is available for programme making.

The return of Only Fools and Horses is bound to attract criticism that the BBC is relying too much on old ideas. But it can point to successful experiments in comedy and drama - Ricky Gervais's comedy spoof The Office, on BBC1, which has

received critical acclaim, and the police drama Mersey Beat, which has been a moderate hit.

Yet the BBC is also ploughing cash into "bankers", such as a new series of the comedy Absolutely Fabulous, which will

feature strongly in the corporation's autumn season launch next week, and further episodes of Gimme Gimme Gimme, which is

being transferred from BBC2 to BBC1.

Only Fools and Horses rates as one of the most successful series in the BBC's back catalogue: it began in 1981 and ran for

15 years.

Producers of the revival episodes are trying to arrange the production schedule so that the first show appears on Christmas

Day. While the BBC won the ratings war on Christmas Day as a whole last year, it marginally lost out during peak time to ITV.

Executives believe that the expense is justified if it means they can regain the upper hand at Christmas.

One familiar face will be missing from the series - Uncle Albert. The actor who played this character, Buster Merryfield, died two years ago. The first of the programmes will open with his character's funeral, which will bring Del and Rodney back to

Peckham.

In the last episode, five years ago, 24m viewers watched Del discover an antique timepiece in his garage, which made the

Trotter family millionaires. But it is understood that the pair are once again down on their luck and struggling to make ends

meet through Trotters' Independent Trading.

Mr Sullivan has had plans for a series for some time, but there were difficulties bringing the cast together. Jason, in particular,

is in heavy demand for his work with Yorkshire Television - which made the Touch of Frost detective series - and the BBC.

Earlier this year Jason, 61, cast doubt on the project when he said at the Bafta awards that the cast were too busy to make

any new episodes. He said then: "It is a pity. I miss it a great deal. I enjoyed it a great deal. It is great having a job where you

get to make yourself laugh."

Jason is committed to a new episode of Frost and a semi-autobiographical film, The Quest, for Yorkshire. Production

of The Quest was delayed when the foot and mouth epidemic meant that vast tracts of countryside were out of bounds, which

led to a shortage of suitable locations for the filming.

The series' two main stars also had family commitments: Jason's daughter Sophie Mae was born in February. And Lyndhurst, 39, became a father a month earlier.

But programme makers worked hard to persuade the cast to come together, and it appears the project will go ahead. It has

not yet been finally signed off by the BBC; a few details have yet to be ironed out. The original cast has been secured. It will

include John Challis and Sue Holderness, who play Boycie and Marlene. And Roger Lloyd-Pack will also be back as the

roadsweeper Trigger.

How the costs compare

Costume drama Pride and Prejudice £750,000 an hour

Star-led vehicle Take Me (Robson Green) £700,000 an hour

Returning drama Peak Practice £600,000 an hour

Sitcoms Gimme Gimme Gimme, The Grimleys £500,000 an

hour

Prime time soaps EastEnders, Coronation Street

£300,000 an hour