The Only Fools and Horses ‘exceedingly graphic’ scene that made Uncle Albert star Buster Merryfield ‘feel sick’
Actress Tessa Peake-Jones once explained Buster Merryfield's mishap during a behind the scenes interview for UK Gold
With 64 episodes throughout the Only Fools and Horses series there are hundreds of scenes that still make us belly laugh years after the episode’s release. In 2017, some star’s from the BBC One show reflected on what it was like filming the comedy during an interview for UK Gold’s The Story of Only Fools and Horses.
Raquel Turner actress Tessa Peake-Jones opened up about a particular scene that left Uncle Albert actor Buster Merryfield feeling rather nauseous. The Three Men, a Woman, and a Baby instalment of Only Fools follow Raquel and partner Del Boy (David Jason) as they prepare to become parents for the first time.
Whilst sitting at home in Nelson Mandela House the expectant mother goes into labour as the Trotter’s scramble to the hospital. A group of doctors then enter the delivery sweet as Raquel gives birth to Damien, leaving Uncle Albert amazed and Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) terrified of the newborn who reminds him of the Omen!
Opening up about behind-the-scenes stories, Tessa recalled the preparation the cast did for the birth scene with Damien. She said: “The only one I have is us being shown a film of a woman giving birth at Hillingdon hospital before we did the birth scene with Damien.
“None of us at that stage had ever had a child, nobody on the production – apart from John Sullivan, who wrote it. So a very sweet staff nurse suggested I watch it, mainly for me to hear the sounds and effects that would be made while giving birth.
“But all the lads said, ‘Oh we’ll come and watch it’.”
Tessa then added: “We’d just had breakfast, and there was Buster, Nick, David and myself, and the director Tony and all the stage crew, and they played this film which was exceedingly graphic of this very brave woman agreeing to let the cameras film her, with the blood and afterbirth and her agony.
“Anyway, at the end of it, Buster turned around to all of us and said, ‘I feel really sick now’.”
The Three Men, a Woman, and a Baby episodes of Only Fools and Horses aired in February 1991 and it paved the way for The Miami Twice Christmas specials which aired later that year.
