Kellie Bright

I must confess that I hadn't seen the previous two editions of this Only Fools and Horses prequel. It's a shame because I rather enjoyed this (most probably) final outing.

In this episode, the young Del Boy (James Buckley) decides to find his fortune by going into movies, proposing his cinematic masterpiece Dracula on the Moon. Meanwhile, gangster and father of Rodney, Freddie "The Frog" Robdal (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is trying to avoid being arrested after a robbery he carried at during The Jolly Boys Outing.

The thing you have to remember when watching Rock & Chips is not to treat it as a sitcom but as a comedy drama. There are no real belly laughs, but a few chuckles along the way. At times it is rather tender. It is also ruder. I cannot recall an episode of Only Fools which included the phrase: "F*** off".

The series is basically the backdrop to everything we have already seen in the original classic series, with many references to the Only Fools, such as Del's fondness for the song "Old Shep".

Sadly, this looks to be the final edition of the series following the death of writer John Sullivan, to whom the episode was dedicated to. Of course they could always get another writer to continue it, but there seems little point. As it is a prequel, we already know what happens. We know that Robdal is blown up during a botched raid, that Joan (Kellie Bright) dies young, that Reg (Shaun Dingwall) leaves the family when Rodney's aged two, and that it is not the last time Del has an idea for a movie - but like Dracula on the Moon, There's a Rhino Loose in the City also never took off.

It is a pleasing hour of well written material, and John Sullivan will be sadly missed.

The third instalment of this baffling Only Fools and Horses prequel was scheduled before writer John Sullivan's death from viral pneumonia on Saturday.

For that reason, it'll get a much kinder critical reception than would otherwise have been the case. But I will now never get to ask Sullivan what possessed him to rewrite the nation's sitcom as a drama (or at least a sitcom without any discernible jokes).

It's 1962 and we're following the love affair between Rodney's mum Joan (Kellie Bright) and his criminal father Freddie (a moustachioed Nicholas Lyndhurst).

The young Del Boy (James Buckley) has got himself a Lambretta and a fiancee called Barbara (Jessica Ashworth). The scene in which we meet her middle-class parents offers a flash of what this might have been.

Sullivan's death means we can probably expect more Only Fools and Horses repeats in tribute, which will be much better to remember him by than this.

The late John Sullivan's prequel to Only Fools and Horses staggers on to 1962 with Del and Rodney's mum, Joan (Kellie Bright managing to be both sassy and naive), holding down two jobs to keep the Trotter family going. Meanwhile, Rodney's biological dad and smooth criminal Freddie Robdal (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is being hounded by DI Thomas (Mel Smith at his jowly best) for the Margate jewellery heist, and young Del (James Buckley) has got engaged to a posh bird called Barbara. Samantha Spiro and Alex MacQueen give wonderfully over-the-top, cartoon-like performances as the up-market Birds. The disdainful yet bewildered expression on their faces when they hear that Del's dad is a docker is akin to that of Downton Abbey's Maggie Smith when she enquired exactly what a weekend is. But, despite these moments, most of this is clunky and charmless. And lovely Lambrettas and Golden Egg restaurant aside, some of the period detail is strangely unconvincing. Yet audiences have loved earlier outings. An enduring nostalgia for the Trotters maybe.

Another one-off special for the Only Fools And Horses prequel, centring on the lives of the Trotter parents. Light-fingered Freddie Robdal (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is being investigated for the jewellery heist in Margate that ended the last Rock & Chips outing but, for all his wits, it looks like his affair with Del Boy's sweet mum Joan (Kellie Bright) might be his undoing. In the meantime, the teenage Del (The Inbetweeners' James Buckley) is hanging out with his pals, chasing girls and coming up with more hair-brained money-making schemes. Amusing enough, but it's actually the more charismatic and colourful grown-ups - Lyndhurst, Bright and copper Mel Smith - who keep this pukka.

John Sullivan, the marvellous comedy writer who created Only Fools and Horses, died at the weekend aged 64. Tonight his prequel of Only Fools, Rock & Chips, returns. Showing the misadventures of a young Del Boy Trotter, it was partly inspired by Sullivan's own youth in South London (the significance of the title, he said, was that in those days "rock music and chips was what we lived off"). Nicholas Lyndhurst (Rodney Trotter in Only Fools) plays local gangster Freddie Robdal, with James Buckley as Del Boy and Kellie Bright as Joan, Del's mother and Robdal's mistress. In tonight's episode, Del Boy turns his charms on well-to-do Barbara Bird (Jessica Ashworth), and the police pursue Robdal over the Margate jewellery heist.

Following the mixed reception given to the first Rock & Chips earlier in the year, the Only Fools and Horses prequel was back for a second hour-long Christmas instalment last night. The leap in tone from John Sullivan's original laugh-a-minute sitcom to this '60s-set comedy-drama remains a little disappointing, but there was still much to enjoy.

Once again, The Inbetweeners' James Buckley was spot-on as the teenage Del Boy, who was now trying to make a not-so-honest living by selling knock-off US rock records in the market. True to form, he was also desperate to have his wicked way with any girl who happened to cross his path - and set about improving his chances by dishing out fake diamond engagement rings to a couple of likely candidates.

Poor Amita (Chandeep Uppal) was overjoyed at becoming Del's fiancée - although her joy turned to anger when she uncovered his plot. Still, she did get a delightful hand-knitted sari from Del's nan, Violet (Paula Wilcox), so it wasn't all bad news. Meanwhile, Del failed to impress another fiancée's parents when he went round for tea. However, the entire scene was stolen by the girl's granny who exclaimed - twice - that her coq au vin tasted like "s***".

I mention the swearing granny only because this marked one of the few occasions when I actually laughed out loud (yes, my sense of humour really is that juvenile). Because while Del's exploits provided welcome comic relief - even if you could see most of the jokes coming a mile off - the real focus of Rock & Chips was on his mum Joan (Kellie Bright) and her on-off affair with mustachioed wheeler-dealer Freddie 'the Frog' (Nicholas Lyndhurst).

Bright's bittersweet portrayal of the proud, put-upon Joan, who wishes she could swap lives with Elizabeth Taylor, was genuinely moving. But all that emotion made it feel more like an episode of Heartbeat at times.

John Sullivan's 90-minute prequel to Only Fools and Horses turned out to be a wonderful surprise. With no laughter track and a minimum of slapstick, it is very different in tone to its successor. Rather than going for broad laughter it concentrates instead on an affair between the unhappily married Joan Trotter (Kellie Bright) and a local crook (Nicholas Lyndhurst). It is a simple love story played out against the backdrop of a pre-Beatles Britain, when money was short and the chance to move into a tower block was seen as the epitome of luxury. Rock & Chips works on its terms, and explains much about why Del and Rodney turned out the way they did.

Not that Del Boy would have even been troubled by the absence of quality control, but Only Fools and Horses continued several series past its sell-by date and ended up a pale, and stale, imitation of its once great self. Writer John Sullivan then flogged the dead horse even further by giving the least interesting supporting character, Boycie, an ill-judged and mirth free spin-off, The Green Green Grass.

So my expectations were suitably low as I approached Rock & Chips, a feature length Only Fools and Horses prequel set in 1960.

Guess what? It was terrific. Freed from the tyrannical demands of a studio audience, Sullivan was able to explore his characters in greater depth, fashioning a genuinely moving love story infused with poignancy and charm. The laughs may not have come as thick and fast as in Only Fools' sitcom heyday, but the comic moments were of the highest quality and beautifully crafted into the narrative. For once the description comedy-drama was fully appropriate.

Sixteen year old Del Boy (James Buckley) and his Nags Head cronies were all present and correct, seen mounting the first rung on the entrepreneurial ladder by selling nylon fibre carpets that electrocuted anyone who set foot on them. However, the focus of the film fell upon Del's mother Joan (Kellie Bright), and how she met Rodney's father, career criminal Freddie "The Frog" Robdal. In a crowd-pleasing piece of casting, Nicholas Lyndhurst played Robdal and did a fine job of it, nicely capturing the conflicted emotions of a ruthless, self-serving, amoral ex-con bewildered by love.

The period setting was lovingly recreated, the performances top notch and the script - apart from a couple of instances where Sullivan needlessly spelt out the jokes - was first class. Lovely jubbly work, John. Now leave it alone.