Nicholas Lyndhurst rules out new Only Fools and Horses episodes

20 February 2019

Nicholas Lyndhurst says too many 'Only Fools and Horses' cast members have died to bring it back.

Nicholas Lyndhurst

The 57-year-old actor - who played Rodney Trotter in the BBC's classic sitcom - said he usually sees co-star David Jason (Del Boy) at funerals after so many of their fellow actors have passed away.

He told the Mirror: "We can't do it any more. John was the driving force. We've also lost quite a few of the cast members now, [so] I don't think I could do it...

"I certainly couldn't do it without John. We can't. At the risk of depressing everyone, I think the last two times I've seen David [were] at funerals.

"We did make a pact to get out for a drink at some stage without planting somebody. We are still close."

While Roger Lloyd-Pack (Trigger) and Roy Heather (Sid) both died in 2014, the show's writer John Sullivan passed away in 2011.

That followed the death of Kenneth MacDonald (Mike) a decade earlier, and the losses of Buster Merryfield (Uncle Albert) in 1999 and Lennard Pearce (Grandad) in 1984.

The show aired for a decade between 1981 and 1991, while the team also worked on the occasional Christmas special until 2003.

Although Nicholas has ruled out a new series, fans of the show can see a musical adaptation on the West End, which launched this month.

John Challis (Aubrey 'Boycie' Boyce) previously said show creator John would be "proud" of the stage show.

He told BANG Showbiz: "John Sullivan would be proud because it was something he always talked about. He always talked about doing a stage show and a musical he had lots of plans but unfortunately he got ill and passed away.

"It's something he always wanted to do but it was difficult to get together with us because we had to get tied up for about a year and I don't think David Jason particularly did want to do that for obvious reasons.

"And if you've got to sign a contract for a long time, it depends on where your life is and you know, if you want to go on tour and you're not living anywhere particularly and you don't have a family to look after than touring is very good but if you've got a lot of responsibilities then it's hard to go away for a year."