Daniel Peacock

Daniel Peacock reveals he's quit fame for very different career

Only Fools And Horses star Daniel Peacock has said he's swapping his career on screen to work in a care home.

Marley's Ghosts which was of a number of original sitcoms that are to be produced by the repeat-heavy network GOLD. Unlike the Sky and NBC collaboration, Marley's Ghosts is an awfully traditional affair albeit one with a far-fetched plot line in which magistrate Marley (Sarah Alexander) finds herself plagued by a plethora of undead faces from her past. The craziness begins when Marley's drunken husband Adam (John Hannah) dies after choking on a chicken bone. When his ghost reappears at his own funeral, Marley starts conversing with him much to the chagrin of her colleague and lover Michael (Nicholas Burns). Michael's fury at Marley's situation leads him to be hit by the car of the inept local vicar (Jo Joyner) with both eventually dying and joining Adam as ghosts only Marley can see. It's clear to see that writer Daniel Peacock has primarily written for children's TV up to this point as Marley's Ghosts has a rather juvenile streak running throughout it. A lot of the jokes are quite obvious however I have to admit that I did chuckle quite a few times especially at a recurring gag involving a pair of randy pensioners. Despite a loopy premise and some corny gags, Marley's Ghosts was strangely watchable thanks primarily to its game cast. I particularly thought that John Hannah gave a better performance than the show deserved as Marley's depressed husband who realised the error of his ways after his death. Similarly impressive was Jo Joyner who gave one of her best post-Eastenders turns to date and she seemed to be having a whale of time as the kooky vicar. While Marley's Ghosts isn't going to win any points for originality it does give me hope that the people at GOLD know what they're doing when it comes to producing original content and I'm looking forward to what they have to offer in the future.

Preview: Marley's Ghosts

It's not hopeful and frankly, despite Daniel Peacock's protestations that 'it has always been on my mind to write something like Marley's Ghosts' since he was a kid, this feels like something that needed a lot more work or a quick burial - one of the two.

Daniel Peacock interview

Marley's Ghosts writer on his new Gold sitcom.