Rock & Chips

On the set of Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Chips

The prequel to Only Fools and Horses - Sex, Drugs, Rock'n'Chips has been hitting the headlines in many of the newspapers recently. The paparazzi and their long lenses have been hanging around the set all week trying to get some exclusive pictures. Luckily we've been given special access to the set, to film some behind the scenes footage, which also gave us the chance to take a few pictures that the paps would never get.

I love comedy. You muck around for a few hours...

HE'S the man who will do for winkle-pickers and leather jackets what David Jason did for camel-haired coats and cocktail umbrellas.

Up-and-coming actor James Buckley has scooped a dream role playing a young Derek "Del Boy" Trotter.

Many will be just as keen to see how the 22-year-old fares as the London wheeler dealer originally played by David Jason.

But James is no stranger to playing a cheeky chappy. He said: "I've always watched comedy, and being a comedic actor is what I'm quite good at. It's simply a lot of fun.

"I've previously done heavier parts where you really have to get into character.

"But I prefer a job where you can turn up and work with a group of people you really get along with, muck around for a couple of hours, film it and go home."

James Buckley looks cushty as the teenage Derek Trotter in new BBC show Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips, a prequel to comedy classic Only Fools And Horses.

The Inbetweeners star pulled on a leather jacket and winkle-pickers yesterday and braved the rain in London for the first day of filming.

Del Boy's tarty mum Joan, played by Kellie Bright, and work-shy dad Reg (Shaun Dingwall) were also on yesterday's shoot.

Lyndhurst returns as Rodney's dad

Actor Nicholas Lyndhurst is to star in the Only Fools and Horses prequel, playing the father of the character he made famous in the original show. The 47-year-old will play "art connoisseur" Freddie "The Frog" Robdal - Rodney Trotter's biological father - in Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips.

Inbetweeners' James Buckley to play teenage Del Boy

The cast for the workingly-titled Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Chips has been announced - and it's a very exciting mix.

It's the Trotters' Phantom Menace

In resurrecting classic and beloved characters with a poorly conceived prequel, is John Sullivan aping George Lucas?

Nicholas Lyndhurst to star in new OFAH spin-off?

Del Boy is coming back in a comedy about his teenage years - and Nicholas Lyndhurst could play his dad.

How do we feel about this? Personally, the idea behind it doesn't sound too bad, but I have little faith in John Sullivan these days. Only Fools & Horses was a classic that was unwisely brought back for specials after the perfect ending of the 1996 special (where the Trotters finally became millionaires), but a lot of its early success was down to David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and the rest of the cast.

I'm not sure how a prequel could ever duplicate the original cast's chemistry. Really, it feels like Sullivan is all out of ideas. He's already spent the past few years writing Only Fools spin-off The Green Green Grass (focusing on supporting character Boycie moving his family to a rural mansion), and that's arguably one of the worst sitcoms around today. The fact it enjoys fairly healthy ratings just beggars belief, but I guess there aren't many sitcoms catering for the over-50s today.

Oh well. I'm at least interested, because the idea doesn't sound too terrible on paper. If John Sullivan can somehow find his spark and they cast great actors in these roles, it stands a chance. In particular, they need to find someone who can do a passable Del Boy impression as the teenage Trotter, and it would be nice to imagine Jason himself agreeing to play his own screen father Reg. Or is he clever enough to keep his distance?