The complete soundtracks of the first two series of the iconic comedy show, plus Christmas specials

Often voted Britain’s best-loved sitcom, Only Fools and Horses ran on BBC One from 1981 to 2003, spanning seven series and 16 Christmas specials. Created and written by John Sullivan, the show won a string of awards, including BAFTAs, and the 1996 episode ‘Time on Our Hands’ attracted more than 24 million viewers, the highest ever for a British comedy. It remains one of the most celebrated and enduring programmes in UK television history.

Now you can revisit how it all began, as we’re introduced to the Trotter trio – market trader and entrepreneur Del Boy (David Jason), his ‘little bruv’ Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst), who reluctantly gets roped in to Del’s dodgy dealings, and Grandad (Lennard Pearce), who minds their Peckham flat from the comfort of his armchair.

When Rodney becomes a partner in Trotters Independent Traders, things don’t go quite as he’d hoped. Despite Del’s assurances that ‘this time next year, we’ll be millionaires’, his money-making wheezes always seem to backfire – from a bit of bother with some briefcases to an open-top bus tour that doesn’t attract any punters and a chandelier-cleaning scheme that ends in disaster… Plus, in ‘Christmas Crackers’, the Trotters contemplate yet another Christmas of TV repeats, closed pubs and Grandad's cooking; and in ‘Diamonds are for Heather’, Del meets a new woman – can romance cure his yuletide blues?

Production credits
Created and written by John Sullivan
Theme songs written, composed and performed by John Sullivan
Produced by Ray Butt
Directed by Martin Shardlow and Ray Butt
‘Christmas Crackers’ produced and directed by Bernard Thompson

Regular cast
Del – David Jason
Rodney – Nicholas Lyndhurst
Grandad – Lennard Pearce
Trigger – Roger Lloyd Pack
Boycie – John Challis
Sid – Roy Heather

Other cast includes: Peta Bernard, Nick Stringer, Barry Wilmore, Jo-Anne Good, Caroline Ellis, Renu Setna, Ahmed Khalil, Babar Bhatti, Jill Baker, Beryl Cooke, Gaynor Ward, Derek Newark, Desmond McNamara, Nora Connolly, Kate Saunders, John D. Collins, Terry Duggan, Michael G. Jones, Gaye Brown, Julie La Rousse, Steve Fletcher, Raj Patel, David Rhule, David Daker, Rex Wei, Jim McManus, Anne Bruzac, Jillianne Foot, Michael Attwell, Anthony Jackson, Elizabeth Benson, Donald Bisset, Geoffrey Toone, John Moreno, Rosalind Lloyd, Roger Brierley, Dev Sagoo

Episode guide

Series 1 (8 Sept - 13 Oct 1981)
Big Brother
Go West Young Man
Cash and Curry
The Second Time Around
A Slow Bus to Chingford
The Russians Are Coming

Christmas Crackers (28 Dec 1981)

Series 2 (21 Oct - 2 Dec 1982)
The Long Legs of the Law
Ashes To Ashes
A Losing Streak
No Greater Love
The Yellow Peril
It Never Rains...
A Touch of Glass

Diamonds are for Heather (30 Dec 1982)

NB: The language on this recording reflects the era in which it was first broadcast. Some small edits have had to be made for music copyright purposes.

Only Fools And Horses logo™ & © BBC 1981

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