Only Fools and Horses got its name from an old American saying and the other name it was very nearly called

Since it first aired in 1981 starring the likes of David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Lennard Pearce as the Trotter brothers and Grandad Only Fools and Horses has been an iconic show in British Culture, and its unique and memorable name is an important part of that.

Writer John Sullivan first came up with his concept for a sitcom following the misadventures of a dodgy cockney market trader in 1980 after another of his ideas, a football themed sitcom, was turned down by the BBC.

In this first draft idea about a cockney trader in modern day, working class London, Sullivan pitched the title of the show as ‘Readies’.

This is cockney or market slang for money, it’s short for ‘ready money’, basically the money the disposable income you have that you can spend, e.g. ‘I’m a bit short of the readies at the minute.’

Initially the BBC didn’t like this idea of the modern London working class, characterised by having a bit of dosh in their pockets and wanting to look a bit fancy like Del Boy.

But producer Ray Butt, whose own father had done a bit of wheeling and dealing in markets, was a big fan of the concept, and the BBC’s interest was sparked when ITV show about modern London, Minders went down as a hit that same year.

But the working title at the time, Readies, had to go, and in its place was the iconic name we all know and love now.

Speaking to Steve Clark for the book ‘The Only Fools and Horses Story’ in 1998, John Sullivan said: “I always thought longer titles grab people’s eyes and obviously I wanted to make viewers very aware of us.

“I liked the idea of calling the show Only Fools and Horses from the old expression ‘only fools and horses work’, because Del’s main aim in life is to not work, and yet he scurries around til eleven at night working his socks off not to work.

“The man himself is a contradiction. So I wanted to call it that and Jimmy Gilbert said: What does it mean? ‘Oh it’s a London saying.’ In the end we found out it was an American saying from Vaudeville theatre days that came over here through music halls.”

Another name considered for the show was ‘Big Brother’, which would have changed the course of TV history, what with there being a huge reality show of the same name nowadays.

Luckily though this name was rejected in fear people would confuse it as something to do with George Orwell’s book 1984, the show being produced just a few years before the titular year.

In the end Only Fools and Horses was chosen and we think it’s fair to say they made the right choice!