Nicholas Lyndhurst

Only Fools stars honour John Sullivan with blue plaque

Only Fools And Horses stars Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst yesterday paid an emotional tribute to legendary show writer John Sullivan.

Phil Whelan's new comedy imagines an exploration in space, the colonisation of a new planet, the making of a new and better society. What makes it funny is that its characters are (and remain) all too recognisably human. So when the leader of the expedition dies on the journey and his second-in-command takes over, there's bound to be a bit of jostling for precedence, especially as Brian, the notional new leader, thinks a nice meeting can sort most things out. He's about to learn a lot. Nicholas Lyndhurst, Vicki Pepperdine and Tom Goodman-Hill star.

Rodney cast in Only Fools and Horses remake

The US remake will see stand-up comic Dustin Ybarra follow in the footsteps of Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Nicholas Lyndhurst interview

Nicholas Lyndhurst has a bit of a reputation for being private. Just about any tabloid story about him - and there have been a few, given he started acting at the age of 13 - will describe him as "secretive" or "publicity shy".

Nicholas Lyndhurst interview

"John Sullivan, who wrote Only Fools And Horses, died in April and we were working together on Rock & Chips, the prequel. I know John had so many more ideas for episodes - he loved writing it, and it was a privilege to be in it, but sadly we can't do it any more."

To commemorate the life of a man who died last month aged 64, but before that wrote successful sitcoms, including two of Britain's best - Only Fools and Horses and Citizen Smith - here's a televised tribute. As RT went to press, the documentary's makers were still stitching it together, so we can only speculate as to its contents. Presumably, David Jason, Robert Lindsay and Nicholas Lyndhurst were top of the production team's to-call list. And I'll eat the umbrella off a pina colada if there aren't clips from his creations and some archive interview footage of the writer himself.

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 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.