'Only Fools and Horses' will never return for another series.

Tessa Peake-Jones

Tessa Peake-Jones

Tessa Peake-Jones - who portrayed Rachel 'Raquel' Turner in the comedy from 1988 until 2003 - doesn't think the television sitcom will ever get another installment now that the mastermind behind the storylines John Sullivan has died because it was his "baby" and no one will ever be able to create the chemistry on screen like he did.

Speaking on 'Loose Women' on Wednesday (20.12.16), she said: "No [we couldn't do another episode without him because] it was his baby and he was the genius behind it. For all the success it has had really you can only go back, although all the performances are excellent, you'll have to go back to the writing and the person who created these rich characters.

"I think he'd be really chuffed to know that today that people are watching every night ... He wanted it to be for family. He wanted it to be something that everyone can watch together. He would be very chuffed to know it's still continuing."

The 59-year-old actress never realised how successful the comedy was when she rocked up for her audition almost 30 years ago but soon found out at her debut appearance aired that she couldn't walk around in public without getting recognised.

She explained: "I've never watched it up to that point because I was doing theatre. You don't really get time to watch telly.

When I walked into the first day for the read through, the script was brilliant ...

"One of the actors said your life is going to change now, you won't be able to go on the tube. I thought, I've always been on the tube. I'm a London girl;I didn't learn to drive until I'm 30; I'm certainly not giving up the tube. I didn't realise that when it came out on Christmas Day that 24-25 million people would be watching."

And, although Tessa now stars in 'Grantchester', people still ask her about 'OFAH'.

She said: "'Only Fools and Horses' never stops because it's on extra channels. It's like it's continuing with us and we get new fans - youngsters - writing in all the time."

However, she wishes she was still in contact with the show's main stars David Jason - who played wheeler and dealer Del Boy Trotter- and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who portrayed his dorky brother Rodney Trotter, but still talks to Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra Trotter) from time to time when their schedules permit.

She said: "Gwyneth and I are good friends. We still keep in touch. I think we all would but everyone is busy and live in different parts of the country so it's hard to keep up."

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