Only Fools and Horses
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Product Description
Review
'What is not to love about this book? It is meticulous, exact, intelligent, affectionate and somehow inspirational. McCann, who has written on Cary Grant and Morecombe & Wise, has delivered his best one yet.' - Guardian on Dad's Army
Product Description
In September 1981, BBC One screened the pilot episode of a British sitcom set in a high-rise block of council flats in Peckham, south London - 9 million people tuned in. 15 years, seven series and over 60 episodes later, 24.3 million people watched the final instalment of Only Fools and Horses - over a third of the British population, and the largest audience for a sitcom ever recorded. In the 30 years since viewers first visited Nelson Mandela House, Only Fools and Horses has won countless awards and is still Britain's most-watched and best-loved sitcom. Del Boy's overwhelming popularity has even inspired the Oxford English Dictionary to include a selection of his most famous words and phrases - lovely jubblyA" and twonkA" are now found within its pages. In this fascinating, entertaining and meticulously researched book, acclaimed biographer Graham McCann goes behind the scenes to tell the inside story of Britain's most enduring comedy. With major contributions from the people who wrote, produced and starred in the programme and material drawn from the BBC archives, it's time to take one last trip down Hooky Street ...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's quite a shock to realise that the great sitcom "Only Fools and Horses" began thirty long years ago. Very sobering for some of us! I well remember watching it as a teenager: I only "discovered" it after a few weeks, like many of my friends, because it began in such a low-key way you did feel as though you'd found this funny show by accident! Then there were all of those series, each one more popular than the last, with a feeling that the show was "growing up" as it progressed. This very well-written and intelligent book complements the straightforward celebrations by delving deeper and analysing the show critically, explaining how it began, how it found an audience and, most interestingly, how it evolved from a conventional weekly sitcom into something that synthesised elements from soaps and dramas to form more ambitious annual epics that included some tears as well as laughs. I was particularly impressed by the detailed and very moving way that the author analysed the "revolutionary" onscreen recognition of the death of Grandad (and, implicitly, the actor Lennard Pearce), and the latter sections of the book are especially refreshing and appealingly thoughtful in the way they freely acknowledge the faults as well as the strengths of the show as it developed Del and Rodney's relationships and love lives whilst maintaining the comedy elements, but the whole book is, in my opinion, an extremely worthy tribute to one of Britain's very best sitcoms.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I couldn't disagree more with the other review - or mean-spirited advert for another book entirely - that suggests that this isn't a well-researched book. It's clearly a very well-researched book (complete with proper notes) that also, incidentally, corrects various errors in previous accounts. As for the fact it's not 'authorised' - I couldn't care less. What I care about is the depth, intelligence and insight, and this book has all of those things in spades. I've read many books about situation comedies that only seem interested in applauding each episode and then showing lots of pictures. Fair enough if you like that sort of thing; it's a free country. But I really like this book because it genuinely tries to educate you about what a situation comedy is, or was, or could be. It's a fascinating exploration of how OFAH grew and changed and inspired many of the situation comedies AND comedy-dramas of today. It's also very entertaining and, in places, very touching. I'm not going to recommend any other books, I'm very happy with this one, and I'll be re-reading it again very soon.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Graham McCann has written two other books on sitcoms that I've greatly enjoyed, as well as several top class biographies of comedians or comic actors, and they are always extremely well-researched, well-written and consistently perceptive. In this particular field I think his work stands out as really excellent and admirable. This book appealed to me because it told the story of Only Fools and Horses with great care and good judgement: as someone who wasn't always absolutely bowled over by all of the episodes (IMHO the odd ones were a bit weak, and I really struggled to like the last three overblown specials), but who really loved the show in general, I found the book very welcome in its even-handed appreciation of the show's ups and downs (mostly ups). It also made me think much more carefully about sitcoms and their nature, history and potential. Good work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A passable episode
Only Fools and Horses (OFAH) is a sitcom which has entered the psyche of the British population. Many of us probably use words (plonker, lovely jubbly, next year we will be... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joanne D'Arcy
A grown-up book for grown-ups
There are so many glib and superficial books about comedy and light entertainment shows, it's genuinely encouraging to find one that talks to you like you're a normal grown-up... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pete Matthews
Nothing new
McCann is a great writer, and some of his other works on similar areas are absolutely essential (his Dad's Army book comes to mind), however this is certainly not an essential... Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. R. Collyns
Very Dissapointing
As a huge fan of Only Fools and Horses, and founder and President of the OFAH Appreciation Society, I was very much looking forward to reading this book, ony to be left feeling... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Perry
Thorough and measured
I enjoyed this. It was a thorough and entertaining tour through the life of a great British situation comedy. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Post Scriptum
Personal opinion heavy
I cannot fault the details of this book however it slips far too much into the authors personal opinions of each episode and even the actors abilities. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Carsmaiden
CLASS
Such a relief from the kind of superficial hack coffee table tosh that gets released into the world. This is a serious, yet -good natured, history. It tells the whole story. Read more
Published 5 months ago by V E Tully
A 'must read'
This is an ideal gift for any OFAH aficionado. Plenty of interesting detail and lots of script excerpts. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Alan C
OFAH untold Story
Brought for my son, an absolute OFAH nut, Loved it! Spot on gift. Now knows more than we can cope with!!! lol. A must havr for those that like to have the extra know.
Published 5 months ago by fatmax
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