About the Book
The complete soundtracks of the first two series of the iconic comedy show, plus Christmas specials
Often voted Britain’s best-loved sitcom, Only Fools and Horses ran on BBC One from 1981 to 2003, spanning seven series and 16 Christmas specials. Created and written by John Sullivan, the show won a string of awards, including BAFTAs, and the 1996 episode ‘Time on Our Hands’ attracted more than 24 million viewers, the highest ever for a British comedy. It remains one of the most celebrated and enduring programmes in UK television history.
Now you can revisit how it all began, as we’re introduced to the Trotter trio – market trader and entrepreneur Del Boy (David Jason), his ‘little bruv’ Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst), who reluctantly gets roped in to Del’s dodgy dealings, and Grandad (Lennard Pearce), who minds their Peckham flat from the comfort of his armchair.
When Rodney becomes a partner in Trotters Independent Traders, things don’t go quite as he’d hoped. Despite Del’s assurances that ‘this time next year, we’ll be millionaires’, his money-making wheezes always seem to backfire – from a bit of bother with some briefcases to an open-top bus tour that doesn’t attract any punters and a chandelier-cleaning scheme that ends in disaster… Plus, in ‘Christmas Crackers’, the Trotters contemplate yet another Christmas of TV repeats, closed pubs and Grandad's cooking; and in ‘Diamonds are for Heather’, Del meets a new woman – can romance cure his yuletide blues?
Production credits
Created and written by John Sullivan
Theme songs written, composed and performed by John Sullivan
Produced by Ray Butt
Directed by Martin Shardlow and Ray Butt
‘Christmas Crackers’ produced and directed by Bernard Thompson
Regular cast
Del – David Jason
Rodney – Nicholas Lyndhurst
Grandad – Lennard Pearce
Trigger – Roger Lloyd Pack
Boycie – John Challis
Sid – Roy Heather
Other cast includes: Peta Bernard, Nick Stringer, Barry Wilmore, Jo-Anne Good, Caroline Ellis, Renu Setna, Ahmed Khalil, Babar Bhatti, Jill Baker, Beryl Cooke, Gaynor Ward, Derek Newark, Desmond McNamara, Nora Connolly, Kate Saunders, John D. Collins, Terry Duggan, Michael G. Jones, Gaye Brown, Julie La Rousse, Steve Fletcher, Raj Patel, David Rhule, David Daker, Rex Wei, Jim McManus, Anne Bruzac, Jillianne Foot, Michael Attwell, Anthony Jackson, Elizabeth Benson, Donald Bisset, Geoffrey Toone, John Moreno, Rosalind Lloyd, Roger Brierley, Dev Sagoo
Episode guide
Series 1 (8 Sept - 13 Oct 1981)
Big Brother
Go West Young Man
Cash and Curry
The Second Time Around
A Slow Bus to Chingford
The Russians Are Coming
Christmas Crackers (28 Dec 1981)
Series 2 (21 Oct - 2 Dec 1982)
The Long Legs of the Law
Ashes To Ashes
A Losing Streak
No Greater Love
The Yellow Peril
It Never Rains...
A Touch of Glass
Diamonds are for Heather (30 Dec 1982)
NB: The language on this recording reflects the era in which it was first broadcast. Some small edits have had to be made for music copyright purposes.
Only Fools And Horses logo™ & © BBC 1981
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
About the Author :
John Sullivan (Author)
John Sullivan was best known as the creator of the BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses, which ran from 1981 until 2003. Across seven series and 18 Christmas specials, he wrote 64 episodes in total, and the show is still widely regarded as Britain’s favourite sitcom.
The final episode of the 1996 Christmas trilogy, Time on Our Hands, drew a record 24.3 million viewers — the highest audience ever for a British television sitcom.
Sullivan also wrote the spin-off The Green Green Grass and the prequel Rock and Chips. He created other hit BBC comedies including Citizen Smith, Just Good Friends and Dear John, and later the comedy-drama Roger, Roger. Often described as ‘the Dickens of his generation’, he was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to drama. He died in 2011.
David Jason (Reader)
Sir David Jason was born in 1940 in North London. His acting career has been long and varied: from his theatre work in the West End to providing the voices of Mr Toad from The Wind in the Willows, Dangermouse and The BFG. From Open All Hours to The Darling Buds of May to his starring roles as Detective Inspector Frost in A Touch of Frost and, of course, Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter in Only Fools and Horses.
The 1996 Only Fools Christmas special 'Time on Our Hands' was seen live by 24.35 million viewers and to this day is the UK's most-watched comedy show of all time.
David Jason is the author of three No.1 Sunday Times bestselling books: My Life; Only Fools & Stories and A Del of a Life.
