Only Fools and Horses: The ‘generous’ pay packet David Jason, Tessa Peake-Jones and the cast used to get for repeated episodes
The very famous faces from the BBC sitcom still rake it in years after the final episode aired
Only Fools and Horses has been around for more than 40 years. A total of 64 episodes were screened between the sitcom’s launch in 1981 until the very last episode aired in 2003.
The BBC show is a national treasure and with fans spanning generations, everyone knows exactly who Del Boy and the rest of the Trotter family are. Plus, running jokes from Trigger is as still funny now as they were back then along with Boycie’s infectious laugh.
Only Fools fans will know the BBC very rarely screen an episode, even around the festive season when the show is famed for its Christmas specials. However, the television channel UK Gold regularly replays the show meaning the sitcom’s cast still gets paid, and it’s a ‘very generous amount’ according to actress Tessa Peake-Jones, who famously played Raquel Turner.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the 65-year-old tv star from Hammersmith, explained how the Only Fools and Horses cast didn’t make big money whilst working on the sitcom but do get paid for repeats. Tessa said: “When the show was repeated a lot on the BBC, we would get paid, I think, about 80 percent of your fee, which was very generous.
“They don’t repeat it on the BBC at all now, because they’ve done a deal with UK Gold. So although it is on loads, we get a much smaller amount.”
Back in 2001, the BBC announced a revival of Only Fools and Horses with three Christmas specials: If They Could See Us Now, Strangers on the Shore, and Sleepless in Peckham, giving the series an epic comeback after a five-year hiatus and continuing the story of what happened after the Trotters became rich.
At the time, it was reported that the BBC was paying £1 million per episode, with the last season consisting of three episodes, reports The Express. These debuted on Christmas Day in 2001, 2002, and 2003, each feeling more like TV movies rather than a traditional season.
As for Del Boy himself, David Jason was paid £100,000 per episode – or £169,000 in today’s money. Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played brother Rodney, was believed to have earned a similar amount per episode as his star power had increased significantly since its debut in 1981.
This would mean every time the BBC aired one of the last three Only Fools and Horses episodes, David Jason would earn £80k. It’s unknown how much the stars earn in royalties from UK Gold.
