# Only Fools and Horses (1981)

> Peckham market trader Del Boy Trotter and his younger brother Rodney chase get-rich-quick schemes in working class south London.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/64

## Facts

- Seasons: 7
- Episodes: 45
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: John Sullivan
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Buster Merryfield, Lennard Pearce, Tessa Peake-Jones, Patrick Murray, Roger Lloyd Pack, John Challis
- TMDB rating: 9.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081912/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, warm, comforting, nostalgic, joyful

## What critics say

Widely regarded as one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms, praised for its warm working-class comedy and memorable characters, with consistently high audience ratings across its run.

## Synopsis

Only Fools and Horses (1981-1991) is a British sitcom created by John Sullivan for BBC One. David Jason plays Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter, an ambitious market trader in working-class Peckham, south-east London, whose grand plans to get rich keep colliding with reality. Nicholas Lyndhurst plays his younger half-brother Rodney, the more sensible and often exasperated partner in each scheme, while Buster Merryfield's Uncle Albert and Lennard Pearce's Grandad add family warmth and eccentricity to the household. Roger Lloyd Pack's Trigger and John Challis's Boycie provide the wider circle of neighbourhood rivals and hangers-on. Each episode is a self-contained caper of dodgy deals, flat-share bickering, and near-miss fortunes, building a deep affection for its characters over seven series. The tone is warm, breezy and cheerfully hopeful, with broad physical comedy and quick-fire wordplay that became part of everyday British speech. Its setting is a Thatcher-era London council estate filled with market stalls, cramped flats and tower blocks. Fans of Steptoe and Son and The Office (UK) will find resonance in its blend of British working class humour and sibling chemistry. Seven series and a run of Christmas specials give it the feel of a long-running, comforting classic.

## Shows like Only Fools and Horses

- [Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983)](https://ember.film/tv/4406)
- [George and Mildred (1976)](https://ember.film/tv/2296)
- [Steptoe and Son (1962)](https://ember.film/tv/3171)
- [ChuckleVision (1987)](https://ember.film/tv/1973)
- [Back (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64197)
- [Rising Damp (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/2417)
- [The Sweeney (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/719)
- [One Foot in the Grave (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/4327)
- [Bottom (1991)](https://ember.film/tv/4078)
- [Not Going Out (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/1309)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt