Only Fools And Horses' most iconic scenes has been blasted by the show's own creator for being "so bad". The late John Sullivan, the brains behind the hit comedy, was so disappointed with the infamous A Royal Flush episode, he wished it had been binned.
Despite pulling in a whopping 18 million viewers when it first aired, this particular instalment has been dubbed as one of the sitcom's biggest duds. Sullivan himself is said to have "hated it", regretting its creation.
This festive flop, which graced screens on Christmas Day in 1986, even faced censorship from Sullivan due to Del Boy's antics. However, after putting it through a hefty edit—chopping a full 18 minutes and injecting canned laughter—the episode was eventually cleared for a DVD roll-out in 2005.
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TV boss Richard Latto didn't pull punches either, calling it a "cruel watch" during the Channel 5 tell-all doc 'Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals'. Turns out A Royal Flush wasn't the only chapter to ruffle some feathers for Sullivan.
He wasn't too chuffed with the first Christmas specials, considering Christmas Crackers to be lacklustre and a rehash of Go West, Young Man. He also thought Diamonds Are for Heather, the second Christmas special, was too run-of-the-mill, reports the Express.
Only Fools and Horses graced the BBC for seven series from 1981 to 1991, delivering over 12 Christmas specials that aired until 2003. Sir David Jason, who recently penned a new memoir, This Time Next Year: A Life of Positive Thinking, has previously voiced his wish to return as Del Boy, telling The Sun: "I've always loved Del Boy, who is such a wonderful loser. I would love to revisit him; I need someone to write me a script."
"As a show, it's very important we don't forget about it; it has a huge following, and it fills in that need for an awful lot of people."
However, the seasoned actor has also revealed that being recognised in public due to his role in the sitcom has been both a boon and a bane.
He said: "Wherever I go people recognise me as the character and you always get people who say, 'Lovely jubbly! ' and all of that. Which only hangs me back, only upsets me slightly because that seems to be the only thing that people remember me for."
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