Original subtitles

Stick a bunny in me pocket.

I'll fetch the suitcase from the van.

Cause if you are the best ones but you don't ask questions, then brother,

I'm your man.

Cause where it all comes from is a mystery.

It's like the changing of the seasons and the tides of the sea.

But here's the one who's driving me berserk.

Why do...

Yeah, I was watching that.

Only Fools and Horses is one of Britain's most loved shows on TV.

Lovely jubbly.

64 episodes were made between 1981 and 2003.

And it's still watched and laughed at by millions of us every week.

What are you doing?

I'm trying to get the dukes of acid.

With every line written by just one man.

The success of Fools and Horses can be summed

up with two words and it's John Sullivan.

The story of Derek Trotter's life is the story of John Sullivan's creative genius.

I don't think anybody really touches John for being able to make you laugh.

And being able to make you cry.

It's time next year.

Happy millionaires.

Celebrating the wonderful comedy world of John Sullivan, we'll be getting the inside

story on the Trotters from the horses' mouth.

I was nearly fired because of that scene.

Oi!

I said to John, you can't use this.

Come on, get him off!

We've also recreated some of the sets, reunited cast members

and have talked to some of the show's most famous fans.

One of the incredible things about Fools and

Horses is that you can grow up watching it.

I can't remember a time before I watched only Fools and Horses.

It's really, really, really the best.

Over the next hour, we're going to be looking specifically at the Trotters' friends.

All right, Dave.

And enemies.

Surprise, surprise!

As well as showing you some priceless outtakes which

have never been shown on British TV ever before.

So sit back and enjoy the definitive story of Only Fools and Horses, the show which

has given us some of the most memorable moments in British comedy.

Of course, that's just comedy.

I mean, it doesn't really happen in real life.

But it's not supposed to happen in real life.

Granddad?

Still hasn't got it right.

The Trotters had lots of friends and one or two enemies.

But first up on the show is someone who could

be said to have had a foot in both camps.

A man has stepped forward, a tall, elderly man wearing a black coat and a black hat.

He wishes to speak to someone called Audrey.

No, no.

Aubrey.

Aubrey?

I am here.

Herman Terrence Aubrey, boys, is one of Dale's oldest friends from school,

conspicuously ostentatious and as hooky as they come.

Boise was this second-hand car salesman and he was quite successful.

Bring the family down.

Have your phone, girl.

I'll take it next to it.

But he was never quite straight.

Well, that Cortina was a death trap.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

You sold it to us.

Did I?

He loves to lord it over all the chaps he was at school with.

I saw a place rather like this on a television programme recently.

Dallas?

No, it was a charity appeal.

Boise is a slightly dodgy character.

Boise did a little bit of a stretch when he was younger, you know.

Yeah, we're full.

Embezzlement.

Conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Fraudulent conversion of traveller's cheques

and attempting to bribe the mayor of Lambeth.

He was so endearing in his way.

Morning, gentlemen.

I am here.

John Chalice is indeed here, but only because his appearance in John Sullivan's

first TV hit, Citizen Smith, struck a chord with the writer.

I was this policeman.

I thought, what can I do?

It's a bit different.

And I just remember this character in a pub where I used to live.

And he had this curious way of talking.

The bar was sparsely crowded.

One or two early evening diners, a few regulars, and a bunch of down-and-outs.

John Sullivan came out and said, I really like that.

He said, I'm going to try and use it again.

Oh, yes, this came in with a Chesterfield and a gross of

electric toothbrushes and a part shop on a van and plants.

Still, clean it up a bit, couple of new tyres.

Yeah, yeah, new engine, new body and you've got a nice little motor.

He had the cars, he had the property and he just had this slightly superior attitude.

Never been to the Seychelles, have you?

Let's say he was a successful businessman, for want

of a better word, whereas Del was in the council flat.

So there was this rivalry that Boise always thought he was superior.

It did manifest itself in A Losing Streak, which was

the second episode I ever did, which was a poker game.

It's going to cost you a thousand notes to see my cards, Del.

I'm skimmed, Boise.

Well, you shouldn't play big boys' games then, should you?

Boise had the money, had the success and always tried to keep Del down.

Four?!

I didn't know you were good at maths, though.

And Del boy's only got two pair.

Pair of aces.

Yeah.

And I got another pair of aces.

Del had the banter and would always win and would always have the last joke on Boise.

I knew you was cheating, Boise.

Oh, yeah?

How?

Because that wasn't the end that I dealt you.

And so there is this wonderful rivalry, but on

the surface, they were sort of still old mates.

He was just pompous.

Boise was... a pompous man.

And again, John Sullivan developed the perfect

foil in Marlene, who was not pompous at all.

Marlene!

Before Marlene married Boise, she had a lot of boyfriends.

You remember Marlene, don't you, Del?

Oh, yes, yes.

All the lads remember Marlene.

Yeah.

I said to my...

Del included.

They did go out together for a month and I think were

engaged, but I think Boise's bank balance rather swung it.

The times I've said to him, yes, he's ugly, but he's successful.

Certainly, she and Del had a very, um, close relationship.

And who shall we got?

Hey!

Hey!

That upsets Boise, and because it upsets Boise, Del Boyd does it all the more.

Yeah, I was just saying hello to Marlene.

Yes, I noticed you were approaching my wife and shaking her warmly by the aris.

Marlene wasn't supposed to be seen ever, but John Sullivan got

the idea that he wanted Del and Rodney to look after a dog.

Rodney, take your leg out that dog's mouth!

He said, where's this dog going to come from?

I suppose Boise could give Marlene a dog.

So I was only there, really, for the dog.

On Sue's first day, production was already behind schedule and BBC's virtuoso

director, Ray Butt, had to throw her straight in at the deep end.

I was met by Ray Butt, who was sweet, and he said, no, we're a bit behind.

We've got to go straight into shooting.

I want you to go in the house, and when I say

action, run over, you'll run over to Del Boyd.

He'll give you a bit of a hug, maybe a snog, and

we'll have a little pause there for Boise's reaction.

Hello, Marlene, my love.

Hello, sweetheart.

He goes straight into a big, sexy snogging scene with David Jason, and my total

communication with David at that point was that I'd managed to squeak, hello.

So your actors have to get to know each other very quickly.

Did you have a nice Christmas?

Oh, terrific, yeah.

I had a dog.

Yeah?

We ate a turkey, same as every other year.

As soon as we started, the rapport I had, it was sort of immediate.

Woo-hoo!

You did great!

And indeed, I had quite a good rapport with the dog.

Come on, kiss him goodbye.

Yeah, bye, Del, see you soon.

For God's sake, the dog, Marlene!

Boise had the cash to give Marlene anything she

wanted, but there was one thing his money couldn't buy.

It's a deep, deep unhappiness to her that she can't have a child.

So when Del suddenly says that he's going to provide a

baby, it's just the most wonderful thing for Marlene.

Say that again, Del boy.

I said I could help you have a baby.

What do you mean?

You're willing to be one of them suffragette fathers?

No, no, no, what I mean is I know where there's a baby going.

What, knocked off?

And then when the truth is revealed and the

baby is not the boy that Del boy has promised.

It's amazing, innit?

Everything you buy off him's got something missing.

Then not only is it a girl, but it's a brown girl.

We could say it's a throwback.

For God's sake, Marlene!

I might be able to con people into buying my cars, I might be able to convince them

that you conceived and gave birth in seven days flat, but how the hell am I going to

persuade them my grandad was Louis Armstrong?

Boy, she steams out.

And then you have to admire David Jason's

skill because he just brings the audience back.

I suppose he's right, eh, Del?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know it makes sense, eh?

Still, it's a nice little dream while it lasted, eh?

Yeah.

And it's just the way he does it that the audience immediately feels her pain.

And by the time I went out trying very hard not to cry, the audience was crying for me.

Coming up, we reunite Boyce and Marlene and

discover what fame meant for actress Sue Holderness.

I did more than once have my bottom pinched.

And as a special treat, we reveal some outtakes which

have never been seen before on British television.

Hi there.

Welcome back to the story of Only Fools and Horses as we

take a look at the people who revolved around Planet Trotter.

My mum always said you had vampire eyes.

Yeah, well, she shouldn't have the old bat.

We've reunited actors John Challis and Sue Holderness, who played the on-screen

husband and wife, to see how being Boyce and Marlene has changed their lives.

People do come up to me all the time and go, hello,

Marlene, and with these terrible pretend laughs that...

It's usually three sheepish-looking blokes come towards me and I can see the

recognition in the eyes, but they wait till they're past and then I hear...

I turn around and they go... And off they go down the road.

I remember where the laugh, the Boyce laugh came from, from a woman.

I remember seeing it came from a woman, which is weird.

She was in the pub like this and she was sitting in the corner, she was sitting

there talking to herself, and occasionally she'd cackle.

I always remembered it, and that's how I did the laugh.

I did more than once have my bottom pinched.

Whilst in a supermarket.

What?

At various times of day, yes, because Dale used to pinch

my bottom all the time and I looked as though I enjoyed it.

Various members of the public thought that it would be a good idea to do it, too.

And I only ever once was cross.

I'd usually smile sweetly, but once I said, that is not appropriate.

They got me early in the morning.

But that doesn't happen any more.

Don't believe it.

Would you behave yourselves?

Oh, shut up, you snobby git.

Why are these two people together?

They're so rude to each other, but they sort of need each other.

So it's a sort of love.

When we moved on and we got to the green, green grass, I think it was quite

important to John Sullivan that, in fact, the relationship that Boise and

Marlene had was one of deep, profound affection, really.

They did care deeply for each other.

Boise and Marlene's spin-off ran for 32 episodes and was inspired after John

Sullivan went to John Challis's 60th birthday party at his home in the country.

He said how much he'd loved seeing John rather grandly, welcoming all these people

to his fine home, and he said, what would it be like if

Boise and Marlene did that, took over a country manor?

Look around you, Marlene.

Hills, fields, woodlands, streams and God's good sunshine.

Yeah, ain't natural, is it?

John Sullivan was so inspired by John Challis's

new home that it was actually used in the show.

We were elated, really, that he thought the characters

were strong enough to have their own series.

Come along.

But on the other hand, of course, you think, how the

hell do you follow a series like Only Fools and Horses?

Then I'm not just a successful farmer.

Successful farmer?

You've got one gay bull and 300 miserable cows.

301.

The problem John Sullivan was struggling with was why would a couple born and bred

in Peckham suddenly up sticks and move to the middle of Shropshire?

And then he had the brainwave when he watched an episode with the Driscoll

brothers in it that Boise had grasped up the Driscolls and had to escape.

John always had to have a logical reason for things to happen.

That's where you start believing in these stories.

It's because it could happen, it could easily happen.

Growing up in Ballum in South London in the 50s and 60s, the inspiration for the

Driscolls was based upon a notorious criminal family called the Richardsons,

who ran the manor through fear and respect.

South London was the manor of some very horrible people.

In Fools and Horses, of course, we have the Driscoll

brothers and everybody was terrified of them.

Boise, how nice.

John utilised that idea into a form of comedy.

Hello, Danny.

Your brother not with you?

Yeah.

The height difference is a very clever device.

These two tough guys were brought down to size, if you like, by the fact that they

didn't look, they couldn't look that tough.

You all right, Marlene's up to spout?

Yeah.

Dear, dear, dear, will you let us know the moment

you find out you've done it and we'll sort him out?

One very tall, one very short, but you're too frightened

to say anything because they're the Driscoll brothers.

I mean, remember, Dole Boy gets beaten up to protect his little brother?

I mean, that was part of South London life, you know.

Del, faint.

It's all right, Rob.

It was a pleasure.

Yeah, well, it's family, isn't it?

It's what you do.

Dole Boy was always getting himself in and out

of scrapes with punters and local villains.

My colleague here is a second dam in Karate.

And I'm a black belt in origami.

But his biggest enemy of all was someone supposedly on the right side of the law.

Buenos dias.

Bloody hell.

Surprise, surprise!

Sleater, sleater, sleater.

In all me glory.

I told you you'd be surprised, didn't I?

He was an old friend, as they all were.

They were all close friends at school.

Whereas everybody else would look after each other, you couldn't trust him.

A real nasty piece of work.

Here, I saw your mum down the neck's head last night's later.

Yeah?

She asked after me.

No.

He was always this figure of authority that the others would take the mickey out of.

And it obviously burned him up.

Do you remember when we was kids?

Used to go over the ponds to play at pirates.

You were Dan Tempest.

Trigger was Long John Silver.

And what character did I play, Dell?

You played the bloke what walked the plank.

Oh, yeah.

You see, there's sort of the old-fashioned expression of his honour amongst thieves.

There was no honour with Sleater.

He nicked his own father.

I had no choice.

If there'd been a way of avoiding it, I would have.

But his real light wasn't effective.

I mean, what else could I do?

He's true.

He'd only borrowed the bike to go down to fish shop and all that.

Dellboy gets nicked by Sleater and he wants to turn Dellboy into a grass.

He wants him in his pocket.

And he spends the whole episode trying to get Dellboy

to tell him where he got these stolen goods from.

If I give you the name of the bloke that stole

that oven, you let Rodney and Grandad go.

No charges.

Yeah, all right.

I'll let them go.

And you also drop all charges against me.

Oh, come on, Dell, I'm looking forward to that.

He gets all these official documents and Sleater's like, look, no-one can touch her.

You know, no-one can do anything to you.

Now give me your name.

Right, for the third and last time of asking, who

nicked the microwave off the back of the lorry?

I did.

And that's the end of the episode and it's beautiful.

That's just sort of...

If I could give someone an example of what a perfect sitcom episode should be,

that is it.

Sleater was only in three of the 64 episodes, yet his influence went far

beyond these occasional appearances in the Trotter's family life.

How clever, again, to link into something where there's been a bit of a baddie in a

programme and bring him back in as the ex-husband of this

new character that's, you know, the love interest of Del.

Go on, just naff off out of it, Sleater, go on.

Oh, don't you worry, Del, I wouldn't take it back now, not in that condition.

Come on, calm down, it's all right, now, stop it.

Stop it, Sleater, you're getting her excited.

Yeah, and I always could, couldn't I?

That was lovely to do because there was all that history and he is a delight to

work with and it was great to be playing his

ex-wife because Jim is a very talented actor.

So he started his career.

Where he's gone from there is so incredible and now everyone goes,

oh, my God, Jim Broadbent, but then he was, you know, he was Sleater.

Coming up, a first on British TV as we show you some never seen before outtakes.

I'll start that all over again.

As well as hearing about some explosive scenes that may be more familiar.

I have never seen a bang like it.

Welcome back as we look at the friends and enemies of the Trotter family.

Del Boy, Albert.

One of Del's mates, who had been in the series from the very first episode,

is Colin Ball, a man more widely known by his nickname.

Why'd they call him Trigger?

Does he carry a gun?

No, it's cos he looks like a horse.

He wasn't quite there, very nearly, but not quite.

All right, this is my punishment, innit?

To spend the rest of my life in this wheelchair.

Still, could have been worse, Del.

How?

My gran had one with a squeaky wheel.

I think he probably is, for me, the greatest supporting sitcom actor of all time.

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something?

Yeah, once.

Yeah?

How'd you get out of him?

Well, I didn't.

I was guilty.

Trigger's so stupid that the others think he's stupid, you know.

So you get the rare sight of Del actually being more intelligent than someone.

Where was she then?

He died a couple of years before I was born.

We were so fortunate to have such talented actors like Roger Lloyd Pack.

The brilliance of Trigger was that he made Trigger

look as though he, as an actor, was like that.

In other words, dim-witted.

Yeah.

He has this brilliant thing of when he's being Trigger, you look at his face and

his face does these little simple... Yeah.

..little simple things with his eyebrows and things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He looks like, look, that kind of little look.

Yeah, but that's all part of, you know, not playing with a full deck, as we would say.

That's Derek Trotter in there, not bloody Einstein.

Del knows what he's talking about.

And I don't see what a Beatles manager's got to do with it anyway.

And just that running joke of never being able

to get through his head Rodney's real name.

All right, Dave?

John was going to drop it after a couple of episodes.

He went, ah, it's just not, it's not working, it's not working.

You know my brother, don't you, eh?

Yeah, of course I do.

How you going, Dave?

Sorry I'm late, Del boy.

I had to pop round my sister's to arrange an alibi for next Thursday.

I went, well, maybe we just stick with it for a while,

because it makes me laugh, and Roger did it so well.

All right, Dave?

All right, Del?

Dave?

Cassandra and Rodney.

Cassandra and Rodney.

Dave.

Rodney picked them up on it in one episode.

Trig, why do you call me Dave?

My name's not Dave, my name's Rodney.

I thought it was Dave.

You sure?

You know, my name's Rodney.

It's always been Rodney, you know.

And Trigger says, why does everyone call you Dave?

So what's Dave?

Nickname, right?

Roger Lloyd-Pack's Trigger was so far removed from Roger himself.

Roger was a very intellectual, well-read, classical actor.

But when he was playing Trigger, he was somewhere else.

When he went into character, nothing came out of here at all.

Every other actor I've worked with, you can just see a little modicum of,

I'm really David Jason, or I'm really Nick Lenthurst.

Roger, nothing.

And they love to talk about money, it's their favourite subject.

I mean, you chat about money and you can't fail to impress them.

Yeah, yeah, God's honest.

I saw one of them old £5 notes the other day.

I think the funniest moment for me is the broom joke.

This old broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time.

That line, it's just, I mean, it's just brilliant.

It's just so simple and so... And I don't know, where does that come from?

How can it be the same bloody broom, Nick?

Well, here's a picture of it.

What more proof do you need?

Every single line Roger had as trigger was dynamite.

You need a brain bypass to have one of them things finished.

How much are you selling them for, Dale?

John, sort of, would write scenes that were...

Often the gag didn't come for two or three pages.

You know, people become famous for a little while, then they disappear.

Like Rennie and Renata.

Simon D.

Or Gandy.

He'd just come out with one line.

Audience, whee!

17 minutes later, we'd get back on with the plot.

And we loved him for it.

Yeah.

I mean, he made one great film and then he never saw it.

Born and raised in Peckham, most of Dale's friends and

enemies were old schoolmates from the Martin Luther King comp.

Among the road sweepers, bent coppers and second-hand car salesmen was a scouse

truck driver who had moved to South London as a

lad and had been in Dale Boy's pocket ever since.

Hey, Denzil!

Oi!

Rodney!

Denzil was such a nice, warm-hearted character.

So much so that I think that Dale used to use

that quality in him to further his owner career.

Denzil, my son!

No!

So what?

No, I don't want to buy anything!

No, I don't want to sell anything!

And no, I don't want you to make me a millionaire!

A black character as one of Dale's mates, and particularly towards the mid-'80s and

later on, it wasn't about his race, it was just mates being funny.

Hiya!

Forever the victim, Denzil was either being used and abused by Dale or copping

flak from his wife Corinne for being used and abused by Dale.

Denzil!

What the hell is he doing in my home?

We heard a lot about Denzil's wife and her influence

on him, and I think we only ever saw her once.

Denzil, how can you trust this man?

Every time you meet him, you end up drunk or out of pocket.

Yeah, I know, but he's a mate.

John Sullivan had plans to make Denzil's wife a recurring character, but Eva

Motley, who played Corinne, sadly passed away after only one appearance.

The wonderful thing that John did was, instead of recasting that character,

he continued to write about her but didn't

actually have another actress player on screen.

Corinne and I have just got back together again, and I've had to promise here that

I'd stop seeing you, stop getting drunk, stop gambling and get a steady job.

Is it my fault you married a wrongman?

Everybody in Peckham knows Del Boy.

He has friends all over the manor, in every market, pub and greasy spoon.

Give us a decaffeinated cappuccino and a jam doughnut, will you?

Rodney, on the other hand, had Mickey Pierce.

Rodney's friendship pool was limited, shall we say.

But, yeah, Patrick was great to work with.

When Patrick Murray joined the cast of Fools and Horses, he had already starred

alongside Ray Winstone in the cult film Scum, but producer Ray Butt didn't cast

him on the strength of his burgeoning film career.

Ray Butt saw me in a TV commercial for Pizza Hut.

There's only a one in 12,285 chance of two people actually ordering the same pizza,

and that's exactly what we've done.

Fortunately for me, Ray Butt saw the advert and he went, that's Mickey Pierce.

Hello, Rodney.

Goodnight, Emma.

Love you.

Rodney's superior to him.

He made Rodney look good, which I think Rodney needed sometimes.

Do you want to dance?

No.

Right.

She's definitely a lesbian.

I think we all have friends like that.

Our mums and dads say, keep away from him, he's going to get you into trouble one

day, and they're always right cos they always do that, you know.

Danny Driscoll said this was a friendly warning.

I'm sorry, Dale, we had to tell him you'd taken her phones.

Let me tell you this.

If I end up supporting a flyover on the M26, I guarantee

that you two are going to be in the next junction.

Do you remember these?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I mean, this brings back memories.

Every time we press the button, it turns the telly over, doesn't it?

Yeah.

What about this?

Now, this is not the original, but it's close enough to, a bit dusty.

Yeah, I remember.

Am I on it?

How about that?

Whenever I was in here, I was always ready, get out before Del Boy gets here

and rings my bleeding neck, you know what I mean?

Do come in, McKee!

I pulled a few friends with me.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, hello.

Oh, hello.

They were very, very good days.

Doing it in front of a live audience was a special buzz, you know, we did those

scenes in The Negs Head, we did a few scenes and all that.

That's a special buzz, but...

Margate, On Location, that was like a completely different ball game.

Oh, it was wonderful.

Do you remember, on the coach, like... Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

And Rodney kicking the ball onto the policeman's head.

Yeah, that's the one.

Rude, gully, nowhere.

Excuse me, sir.

Denzel had the loogie and the rodeo was on fire.

Full of head both, we're off to Margate.

John saw the Bulls Club near where he lived.

And there was just this sign saying, this

year's jolly boys outing was going to Margate.

So John took that, nicked it, and created this wonderful show.

The reason it was one of our favourites is because it's one of the only times that

almost four cast have been together on location,

because it was usually just David and I.

The whole lot were there.

It caused all sorts of problems on the basis that we just...

They never shut up between takes.

It went on and on.

Everybody was just having a ball.

We did actually have a real jolly boys outing.

We all went fishing.

And I seem to remember we all caught something.

Nick, me and the only person that day who didn't get anything was David.

Yeah, David got very crass with me because he couldn't catch anything.

And I caught two.

To the point of me saying, I'm coming over your side of the boat.

I went, David, it's not going to make any difference.

The boat's only this wide.

He caught me up.

We all came back with these fish.

David had got his worm.

Bring your worm in, Dave.

It was very funny.

Ben, we've got to do something about this.

Someone get some water.

Good idea.

Water, we need loads of water.

And his coach fitted with a fire-distinguisher.

I was round at John's, having a few glasses of wine, as you do, discussing the script.

And he said, listen, I've got this idea that they actually set fire to the coach.

And he said, do you think we can do that?

And I thought about it.

I said, well, I'm sure we can do it.

I'm sure we can do it.

And by the end of the night, I said to him, John, let's blow the fucker up.

And the next morning, while I was recovering from my hangover, John had been

on to the office to say, Tony says we can blow the coach up.

And the production manager said, he said what?

Abandon ship.

The thing went off.

I have never seen a bang like it.

And then all I could hear was...

HE MUMBLES I said, anybody tell the fire brigade anything about this explosion?

And they said, yeah, we told the Margate people, but the bang was so loud,

it got round to Clacton or God knows where else.

And we had all these people turn up, thinking it was a fire and an explosion.

It was extremely funny.

Don't worry, I won't tell your governor about it.

LAUGHTER You polonka!

After the break, we reunite Del and Raquel in the boudoir.

I was lifting the sheets up and going, but she hasn't got anything on under it.

Oh, no!

And we can reveal for the first time on television

some lost moments from the studio floor.

I said sorry about that, but I thought I'd stop

there, you know, after it was going very well.

Welcome back.

Every live recording of Only Fools and Horses would

take place at the studios at BBC TV Centre in London.

Invariably recorded on a Sunday night, it was the hottest TV ticket in town.

The audience were one of the easiest audiences

to warm up because they came in wanting to laugh.

Please welcome David Jason!

CHEERING

We were going into the studio, pre-recording on a Saturday, if I remember

rightly, going in then, doing the live show on Sunday.

You would then have a day off and you'd come back for rehearsals on a Tuesday.

I would go off and start editing the show

because it was going out the following Sunday.

Yeah.

It's a very, very odd mix when you have a camera and your whole training and your

whole instinct is to just work to a camera.

But you can't because you've got banks and banks of

people watching and they're a living, breathing audience.

We saw it through to the death.

Please release me.

LAUGHTER Congratulations!

The two people who I learnt everything from in

terms of comedy on television is David and Nick.

And the green, green guas of home.

LAUGHTER And that was followed by a medley of Wackenwell.

LAUGHTER What made it a joy in the studio was relying on those

two and knowing that they would get you through it or whatever.

That is not funny, Wodney!

LAUGHTER Back in the same bed for the first time in more than 14 years,

we've reunited Sir David and Tessa to talk about what it

was like performing in front of a live studio audience.

I remember when the music started and we were all in the wings in the studio waiting.

The nerves, almost like doing a show in the theatre,

that we would all be walking up and down, wouldn't we?

Getting just that little bit of anticipation of not knowing how it was going to go.

Nick Lindhurst and I used to walk and we'd pass each other

and we'd stop in case he'd go, why are we doing this?

Why are we here?

We'd go, I don't know.

It was because, as you were saying, that build-up and hearing the audience out there.

Why is it...

You have to ask yourself, we're so experienced, we've been doing it for years

and still every time before you went on that...

And do you think that's made more difficult

when you know there's an audience and cameras?

You've got an audience behind the cameras that's guiding you to give pauses for the

reaction, but remember the story with the Wendy house.

What was that?

Leonard's line was something like, what sort of house is that, Rodney?

A Wendy house and this.

We went rehearsals.

Yeah, a little snigger, wasn't it?

And on the night, the whole audience erupted.

We're going into the self-carrying holiday trade.

What, on 200 nikka?

Yeah, but we're starting in a small way.

Well, you've got a Wendy house.

And Nick Linus and I both looked at each other and went...

Because you weren't expecting it?

No, it was just...

It was just a line that was nice line, but for some reason the audience thought

it was the funniest thing and so after that, whenever we got a line in the show

that was going to be, we thought, a big laugh during rehearsals,

Nick Linus and I would say, no, no, it's a Wendy.

And that's what that meant?

Yeah, it's a Wendy.

A Wendy became... I remember hearing you say Wendy and I never knew what it meant.

And that was it?

That was it.

The zeny actor would tell you, performing in front of a live studio

audience means you have to keep the punters entertained

even when the cameras weren't supposed to be rolling.

We were lying in bed and there was a problem, right?

And so because we had a live audience, we had to do something, so I was lifting

the sheets up and going, but she hasn't got anything on under it.

Oh, no, I remember that.

Didn't you?

Yeah, yeah.

But you had, unfortunately.

Yes, I certainly had.

I thought you were a method actress and you would have...

Such a disappointment.

After trawling the archives, we have uncovered footage of when things didn't go

exactly to plan and asked the cast and crew to look back on their more unguarded

moments which have never been seen before on British television.

150 Latvian radio alarm clocks.

Hi there.

What, you think we just shot one perfectly every week?

I spent all my money on Raquel's new dress.

Anyway, don't worry, you know, we'll be all right tonight.

We'll put all this on the old...

We might as well start again because I've gone there.

The nag's head, I remember being a little bit dodgy and you sensed at any point any

of the actors might just suddenly find something a little

bit funny and then once one went, the whole lot went.

I won't be in tomorrow, mate.

Eh?

Why?

Why was it?

Well, tomorrow night, me and Cassie... Me and Cassie... Go to some dollhouse.

Mike, the landlord of the nag's head, was played by the much-loved actor Ken

Macdonald, who had his own inimitable way of warming up the audience.

Who does this remind you of?

Eh?

Eh?

Who threw that?

Ken Macdonald.

Ken Macdonald.

God rest his soul.

It was always before we started recording, just about to turn over, and he knew the

audience were watching all the monitors and he'd pop out

the back, he'd pop out that, and went, who threw that?

And I still laughed.

He's got it.

He's got it on the end up.

Yeah.

Who threw that?

Who threw that?

He used to do that every week, just to make the

audience laugh, and at one stage, we were all doing it.

We'd do it in situ with him.

It was great.

Lovely.

I really miss him.

You've got nothing to worry about, love.

We'll all lend a hand.

You do the meeting.

Sometimes, I remember, if you've got an audience,

it was a little bit sticky when we started.

Yes.

You and Nick were very clever at...

I'll tell you what, I'll just pretend I make a mistake here.

Yeah.

And everybody goes, oh, look, you made a mistake!

I mean, one look at Molly when she gets out of bed is enough to make anyone run a mile.

That woman can put the frags up and the ball... I'll tell you what, I'll stop there.

I'd say sorry about that, but I thought I'd stop

there, you know, whilst it was going very well.

Why should he get lost?

By being able to pretend to make a mistake and then

go, oh, it wasn't my fault, it was the director.

I mean, he's terrible.

Me and Nick, the audience, were all one against you guys up in the box.

Yeah, we're the enemy.

Return tickets to Miami.

250 smack-a-roonies.

You know, that's a monkey before you got to bed for the night.

Huh?

Oh, that's all right.

I think the only person I don't remember ever, ever seeing laugh was Roger Loipack.

Problems, Dave?

Doesn't seem to make any sense of anything, but I think I'll stop there all over again.

I don't know.

Everything's free in America.

Keepers for tea in America.

Missed it.

I said you would!

I assumed you'd been doing that all day long in rehearsals.

I said, do you wait till tonight?

No.

I noticed there were none of me on there.

Obviously, you made no mistakes.

Word perfect, madam.

And good night.

Potpourri, potpourri!

People are still watching it and still enjoying it,

and new generations are getting pleasure out of it.

Del!

Let's go!

I don't think any of us ever realised that we were going

to become quite the national institution that we became.

I wish that we were still doing it, because it was such fun, brought me such

pleasure, and it also brought me pleasure tonight, brought other people pleasure.

Lovely job.

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