Only Fools and Horses episode 'banned' and re-edited…

Only Fools and Horses episode 'banned' and re-edited because of Del Boy scenes

An Only Fools and Horses episode is believed to have been banned by the show's creator as he had felt it portrayed Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter badly.

The special festive episode 'A Royal Flush', which was written and created by the late John Sullivan, originally been broadcast on the BBC on Christmas Day in 1986. During the episode, Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) meets the daughter of a duke, with brother Del Boy (David Jason) then trying to help him make a good impression.

When it first broadcast, the episode raked in 18 million viewers but it has been branded as one of the worst episodes of the show, with creator Sullivan said to have "hated it" himself. Sullivan is said to have taken issue with the portrayal of Del Boy in the episode, which was reportedly completed just hours before broadcast and had no audience laughter, writes The Mirror.

Del Boy has been considered out of character in 'A Royal Flush,' with him belittling Rodney at a posh dinner and threatening an audience member at the opera as well.

Sullivan is said to have disliked the way Del Boy came across in the episode (BBC)

It's understood that the original version of the episode was released on VHS in 1998 - almost a decade after it had first aired - with it later issued in DVD format in 2005. The DVD version however is said to have been heavily edited at Sullivan's request, with audience laughter added over it and around 18 minutes of footage purportedly cut.

Only Fools and Horses episode 'A Royal Flush' saw Rodney and Del Boy try to impress a wealthy acquaintance (BBC)

The edited version reportedly featured in subsequent releases and TV repeats, though both versions of the episode were remastered for a Blu-Ray collection last year.

According to the Daily Star, the original version had actually even been banned by Sullivan at one point, because of the way that Del Boy came across during some scenes.

The outlet reports that the episode will be discussed in the documentary Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals, which is scheduled to air on Channel 5 tomorrow.

Chris Wadsworth, who had been an editor on the sitcom, explains in the upcoming special: "It's quite a cruel, dark episode. John said: 'This is not a good episode'."

The episode starred David Jason as Del Boy (Getty Images)

"Some 20 years later he said 'Can we do anything to take out Del being nasty?' The episode was shown to an audience to get a laughter track," he further says of it.

And commenting on the unedited version of the episode, TV producer Richard Latto said: "The original where Del Boy is being quite cruel to Rodney [...] is a hard watch."

Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals will air on Channel 5 tomorrow night (July 22) at 9pm. The episode is likely to be available for catch up on My5 after broadcast.

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Only Fools and Horses episode 'banned' and re-edited because of Del Boy scenes

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