Rock & Chips

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

John Sullivan managed to keep the Only Fools and Horses legend running for nearly twenty five years, and delivered something that is undoubtedly a true British institution that grew so it couldn't be constrained by the mere format of a TV show. Although it had undoubtedly been stretched as far as it could go by the time the last feature length special was shown in 2003, there was something in the sub-conscious of each fan, that could easily take on knowing, something even just a little bit more about the characters, so durable in the memory were they. The easiest, but probably the most effective thing to do, would be to re-trace the story of Del's early life, before becoming the character we stuck with for so many years.

And so we are taken to Peckham in the 1960s, where the mystical Joan Trotter (Kellie Bright) lives in a run-down street with her thoughtless, abusive pig of a husband Reg (Shaun Dingwell) and the young Del boy (James Buckley.) She ekes by a living as a cinema usherette, having to put up with her pervy boss and the thought of never escaping this run down life...until a chance encounter with recently released con Freddie Robdal (Nicolas Lyndhurst) comes by, setting the course of her life and the lives of those closest to her on a rickety collision course that will change everything forever.

The shiny, camcorder like lens that it's filmed in gives it a cheap look that detracts from it a bit, but this is something you just learn to overlook. The Inbetweeners's Buckley is an inspired choice as the young Del Boy, as well as Daniels as a younger version of Leonard Pearce's Grandad. Lyndhurst is quite a subversive choice to play Robdal, but given who we later learned who he was in relation to Rodney, who better? What's disappointing is the under developed younger side characters in the shape of Del's mates, including Boycie, Denzel, Trigger, Slater et al...which could have been quite interesting.

Played more for drama than for laughs, this has a reputation that precedes it and so makes it even more affectionate for long time fans. Doesn't quite deliver in every way, but not a bad effort for something that was always going to come along eventually. ***

This seems to be the BBC motto as they frantically try and drag another success out of the Only Fools and Horses hat. They've tried a spin off so why not try a prequel.Luckily for them they have struck gold.

John Sullivan has created a warm and funny comedy drama that captures the love story of Del Boy's mum and Freddie the frog that was touched upon in Only Fools. It has iconic music in it throughout and some wonderful moments that prove that Sullivan is still at the top of his game.

Kelly Bright is good as Joan and Nicholas Lyndhurst makes a passable villain as Freddy the Frog. Much was said about James Buckley taking on the iconic role of Del Boy but to be honest he doesn't really have a lot to do and it's the Joan and Freddie love story that carries the piece.

Sure it may not have been what everyone expected but at the end of the day everyone loves the trotters and this drama only makes us love them more.

As a fan of the television series Only Fools and Horses I was well aware that write John Sullivan had at times retcon the Trotter family history here and there when the comedy series was running.

When the prequel Rock & Chips was made I felt the reconning went to overtime and by this period I felt Mr Sullivan who was soon to pass away had lost his comedy mojo.

The pilot episode started brightly enough and with high viewing figures with a mixture of music, nostalgia and comedy-drama.

We are transported to the Peckham of the 1960s when Del boy was younger, cocky but a little bit green.

It is more about Joan Trotter much mentioned in the original series living a downtrodden life with a no good husband, Reg. A character who only once appeared in OFAH as their long lost dad. A younger version of Granddad is also there showing traits we saw in the original comedy show.

Joan is a cinema usher with a pervy boss and meets the charming ex- con Freddie Robdal played by Nicholas Lyndhurst who charms her takes her away from her humdrum life.

Lyndhurst is having a ball plying the charming but also ruthless Freddie the Frog. You simply forget Rodney the Plonker. However he was a minor character in the OFAH canon who is playing a bigger role in events and the surrounding characters. I always assumed he was someone Joan had a fling with, around for a short time and disappeared. He may or may not had been Rodney's dad. A mute point now given that Lyndhurst plays Friddie.

The show was not too funny because it was more of a drama which left young Del Boy out in the cold and his friends such as Boycie were too minor as characters. For OFAH geeks like me Joan was painted very much as an angel here as in the original show, although she was spoken in the past tense as she died when Rodney was an infant, she was supposedly a bit of a floozy.

By the time the third episode came around the viewers lost interest in the show. The main reason was because the show was disjointed and lacked focus. We expected a comedy about the misadventures of young Del boy and we did not get it.

Don't go into it thinking it's the same as Only Fools and Horses, because you'll be disappointed, and miss a great series. All the locations were appropriate for the time it's set. The characters are all well played, and none of them feel out place. The story is great, and the drama and jokes are both well timed.

I can take or leave 'Only Fools', bit too slapstick for me - the canned laughter, the crammed-in gags - but I like it enough to check this out. What I saw was a pleasant surprise.

If you want 'Only Fools', approach carefully. Yes, this is comedy, but much more a 'family drama' than 'Only Fools' ever was. R&C wants you to invest in the characters - Del and Rodney's parents, grandparents, Del himself, and Lyndhurst - 'Only Fools'' Rodney - pulling off a surprisingly convincing suave yet thuggish criminal - and by the end you feel more for them than you can from watching 'Only Fools' in its entirety. It is, dare I say it, more intelligent fare than 'Only Fools' and benefits from it.

Indeed, R&C may have profited from having no connection with 'Only Fools' at all. Knowledge of subsequent events constrains R&C in plot development, so much of what's to come we can surmise from our knowledge of 'Only Fools', stripping R&C of some potential tension. Moreover, 'Only Fools' fans tuning in to this as a prequel may find themselves disappointed while others, perhaps not great fans of 'Only Fools', may miss out on a treat for the association.