The ‘worst’ Only Fools and Horses episode which the original broadcast audiences hated and TV audiences still hate
It’s not often Only Fools and Horses has disappointed its fanbase. Throughout the decade it ran regular episodes on TV, from 1981 to 1991, the BBC sitcom became a much-loved classic. The show was considered a pretty safe bet for getting laughs from its live audience. But there was an exception.
One episode of the show, which has since been widely hailed as the “worst” episode of Only Fools ever created, was so unpopular with its original broadcast audience that the production team actually heavily edited it for later DVDs, with scenes cut and “canned” laughter added in. The episode was loathed by audiences at the time, and appears to still be despised by viewers today.
In “A Royal Flush,” Rodney lucks out scoring a date with “posh” Vicky at Peckham market, arranging a night out at the opera, but everything is ruined when Del Boy gets involved, ruining everything for his little brother with the pound signs in his eyes. The episode sounds harmless enough, but even before it aired it seemed doomed to fail.
During the troubled production of A Royal Flush, David Jason lost his voice for three whole days (the only time he ever called in sick to the show), then Lyndhurst was struck down with a bad bout of the flu as soon as his co-star had recovered. The setbacks threw the production team into a panic, who had to cut filming so fine that the final scene was almost broadcast live on Christmas Day 1986.
A Royal Flush has widely been regarded to be the ‘worst episode ever’ of Only Fools and Horses (Image: BBC)
With no time for editing, the episode couldn’t be played in front of its usual studio audience, and had to be aired with no laughter track, and no music. According to IMDb, any time a member of the cast or crew dared ask a question during the chaotic production of the episode, the exasperate answer was always the same: “F*** knows!”
Editing reportedly seeped into the early hours of Christmas morning, much to everyone’s relief. But the relief was short-lived, because as soon as A Royal Flush aired it became clear the episode just didn’t have the tone right. The original broadcast audience is said to have hated how much Del Boy seemed “out of character” and “cruel” in the episode’s unusually sinister storyline.
Only Fools fans think Del Boy was less ‘loveable rogue’ and more downright offensive and cruel in A Royal Flush (Image: BBC)
As he sets about ruining everything for his brother in “A Royal Flush,” Del is less “lovable rogue” and more downright offensive. A recent debate on an Only Fools and Horses fan page on Facebook shows people still have strong feelings about this, with one person stating: “Del was a plonker in this, really annoys me.”
A second person agreed, “Del was so unlikeable in this one. Just wasn’t the Del we all know and love. The episode has funny moments but Del was horrible,” and a third critic said: “Worst episode ever, del was always a rough diamond, in this episode he was a complete knob.”
Although the original episode length was reportedly 76 minutes long, it was later to cut down to 59 minutes for later DVDs, for which it was heavily re-edited and “canned” laughter added in. However, it seems A Royal Flush still couldn’t be salvaged. Writer John Sullivan, Producer Ray Butt and David Jason all reportedly think it’s the worst episode ever made.
Sullivan admitted in a 2003 interview that he wished he had never made the episode, and according to reports Ray Butt actually phoned the BBC’s Head of Comedy, Gareth Gwenlan, on Boxing Day 1986 to try to step down from the series. Despite wanting to leave after the stress of production and poor reception of A Royal Flush, Butt was encouraged to hang in there for another year.
