None other than Mel Smith, will join the cast of Rock and Chips in another two 60 minute episodes of the Only Fools and Horses spin-off.
Mel Smith who made it as a writer and producer best known for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones has joined the cast of Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips. Mel Smith will play DI Thomas a detective in the new episode.
Like previous helpings of John Sullivans Only Fools and Horses sitcom, the BBC intends these two episode of Rock and Chips s to transmit at Christmas 2010 as a holiday treat for fans. The second will transmit in 2011.
John Sullivan says: “We are thrilled that Del’s winkle-pickers and bomber jacket are going to get another couple of outings on BBC One. The first episode was a great popular success for the channel and there’s plenty more twists and turns in the Trotter family history for us to explore before we’re finished!”
Over 7.2 million saw the first episode Rock and Chips.
The BBC executive producer will again be Head of Comedy, Mark Freeland, who says: “Working with a cast of this calibre, a writer of such legendary status and a subject that is so beloved, is nothing but a pleasure and a privilege.”
Rock and Chips is written by John Sullivan, produced by Gareth Gwenlan and directed by Dewi Humphreys the comedy dramas are now shooting on location.
The BBC have today announced that there will be a full series of Fools and Horses prequel, Rock and Chips - following the success of the one-off special earlier in the year, John Sullivan is now writing a full series of Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips.
Set in the 1960s, Rock & Chips tells the back story of the Trotter family, and features younger versions of other popular characters from the classic BBC sitcom too.
The 90 minute comedy drama, first shown in January, explained to fans how criminal Freddie 'The Frog' Robdal was actually the real father of Rodney Trotter.
The programme - which starred Nicholas Lyndhurst, Kellie Bright and James Buckley - was met with positive reviews from the press and was a big hit for the BBC, with over 7 million viewers tuning in to watch the drama.
As a result, it comes as little surprise to hear Sullivan is currently writing six more episodes of Rock & Chips.
James Buckley, star of The Inbetweeners, will again take on the role of Del Boy in this forthcoming full series. He told The Sun that Sullivan had recently told him about the series: "I got a text from him and he said he was in the middle of writing six hour-long episodes."
The new episodes are expected to broadcast on the BBC One towards the end of the year, or in early 2011.
Rock & Chips, the Only Fools and Horses prequel, attracted more than 7 million viewers to BBC1 last night, Sunday 24 January.
The comedy drama, which traced the adventures of a young Del Trotter in 1960s Peckham, pulled in 7.4 million viewers and a 28% share between 9pm and 10.30pm.
Rock & Chips won its timeslot, beating ITV1 drama Wild At Heart, which drew 6.4 million viewers and a 23% share between 8.45pm and 9.45pm.
On Sky1, the first episode of series eight of 24 attracted 718,000 viewers – a 2.6% multichannel share – in the 9pm hour. The second episode at 10pm attracted 604,000 viewers, a 2.8% multichannel share.
Sky1 had further success with the first semifinal of its Davina McCall fronted Got To Dance, with had 907,000 viewers, a 3.7% multichannel share, at 6pm. MORE
Next Sunday, BBC1 will air a one-off comedy drama titled, Rock and Chips. There's a lot riding on the program. This isn't just any comedy drama - originally titled, Sex and Rock and Chips, but now going as Rock and Chips, (can't have the word SEX in a BBC sitcom, old boy) it is a prequel to one of the most successful BBC sitcoms of all time, Only Fools and Horses.
Only Fools and Horses ran as a series from 1981 to 1991 and continued with Christmas Special episodes, that regularly topped the ratings, until 2003. There are so many classic moments from the show's history - the Batman and Robin sequence, the chandelier incident, Del falling through the bar at the yuppie club, the birth of the Antichrist otherwise known as, son of Del. There are just too many to mention.
The second video embedded in this post, contains the classic Batman sequence. Now that's pure comedy!
"Only Fools and Horses – and consequently John Sullivan – is credited with the popularisation in Britain of several words and phrases used by Del Boy regularly, particularly "Plonker",meaning a fool or an idiot, and two expressions of delight or approval: "Cushty" and "Lovely jubbly". The latter was borrowed from an advertising slogan for an obscure 1960s orange juice drink, called Jubbly, which was packaged in a pyramid shaped, waxed paper carton. Sullivan remembered it and thought it was an expression Del Boy would use; in 2003, the phrase was incorporated into the Oxford Dictionary. Other British slang words commonly used and popularised in the series include "dipstick", "wally" and "twonk", all mild ways of calling someone an idiot." wiki
The show was created and written by the great John Sullivan - I wrote to Mr. Sullivan when I was a spotty teenager, asking how to set out a comedy script for television. Not only did he take the time to write back but he also sent me a script for his, then current, comedy series, Sitting Pretty. I do wish I still had that.
Now back to Rock and Chips - set during the Sixties, a time of sex, drugs and rock and, er - chips, it tells the story of a young Del Boy, though most of the emphasis is on Del's mother and her relationship with Rodney's biological father - Nicholas Lyndhurst is the only member of Fools to appear in this drama, but playing Rodney Trotter's biological father. Will it be any good? Well, we'll find out this weekend - but one thing is certain, Fools and Horses fans everywhere will be tuning in for the voyage back to 1960's Peckham. Expect a full review on The Archive after the episode airs.
