Only Fools and Horses star ‘worried about comedy’ as people ‘want the BBC classic banned’
Sitcom icon Sue Holderness has spoken openly about why there's not another TV show that can match Only Fools in modern times
Only Fools and Horses icon Sue Holderness has shared her worries about the future of comedy amid calls to ban the legendary BBC show. The final Only Fools episode aired 20 years ago as Sleepless in Peckham marked the bitter end of the adored BBC One sitcom written by John Sullivan.
Sue Holderness, 74, played the part of Marlene Boyce with her first appearance during the Sleeping Dogs Lie episode in 1985. The character was only ever supposed to be in one episode as the wife of Boycie (John Challis) but she stayed for the duration of the show owing to her brilliant one-liners, mannerisms and on-screen chemistry with Challis that made them a dream to watch.
Only Fools has kept generations in stitches from the 1980s, and is one of the best show’s ever to hail from the UK. Speaking to the Telegraph, Sue explained why there’s no modern equivalent of Only Fools.
Only Fools and Horses’ Sue Holderness has opened up about the future of comedy (Image: Tabatha Fireman/Getty)
She said: “We had a knack. We don’t have them any more. Maybe it’s because people don’t watch television in the same way.
“Most kids don’t watch television at all and lots of people don’t have a licence. They’re glued to Netflix and YouTube. There’s no equivalent of Only Fools.”
Although it’s not only streaming services that have impacted the Great British Comedy, as the actress also explained why sitcom’s are harder to make in current times.
“I worry a bit about quite what comedy writers can write any more”, Sue added: “There’s so much that can be taken as a terrible insult to somebody when it’s supposed to be a joke.
“We’re bemoaning the fact we don’t have sitcoms like we used to, but I think it is harder for writers to come up with stuff that is really acceptable and still funny, and still sort of naughty and cryptic and sardonic, and not offend people.”
Sue went on to say: “Very politically correct people want quite a lot of it banned.”
Only Fools arrived on screens in 1981 as the BBC took a punt at a funny new show focusing on the lives of dodgy dealers Del Boy, played by Sir David Jason, and his ‘dopey’ younger brother Rodney Totter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) living in Peckham.
Although two decades have past since the last Christmas special, Only Fools still has legions of fans who will undoubtedly re-watch the series again and again, especially around the festive time.
The show will also hold great memories of families sitting down to watch the Christmas specials. In 1996, an audience of 24.3 million tuned into watch Time on Our Hands as the Trotter’s became finally millionaires, a record for a British sitcom.
When the sitcom ended in 2003, Sue and her co-star John Challis went on to star alongside each other in the spin-off Green Green Grass. The series ran for four series and three Christmas specials shown between 2005 and 2009.
