Stuck for a day out this bank holiday? How about a visit to the sunny streets of Peckham. You'll be in good company. Apparently – and admittedly, quite incredibly – one in 20 Britons, or something over 3 million people, have journeyed to this patch of south east London to relive Del Boy and Rodney's adventures. Thanks to Only Fools and Horses, tourism in SE15 is reportedly alive and well.
They must all have visited when I was on holiday. Because in five years of living in Peckham, I spotted the sum total of zero people searching for the fictitious Nelson Mandela House or the not-quite-so-fictitious Nag's Head. No shouts of "plonker" ringing along Rye Lane; no yellow Reliant Regals rattling along the streets; no tour guides with umbrellas aloft. (Peckham tour guides? That's an idea worthy of Del Boy himself.) The most showbiz that SE15 got was when the entire national press set up camp outside Jacqui Smith's house.
And yet I understand the appeal of visiting the location of your favourite TV programme. A friend from the Middle East who thrilled to non-stop DVDs of Only Fools and Horses was charmingly excited about visiting Peckham; I remember a trip down the cobbles of Coronation Street at Granada Studios as a school-holiday highlight; and spotting places you know (or better still, actually live) is a particularly satisfying TV moment. And even people who are on the telly aren't immune from excitement about their favourite shows. During a recent interview ahead of the forthcoming ITV drama Father and Son, Dougray Scott admitted that he loved Morse so much that he'd actually gone to stay in the hotel – even the same room – where Colin Dexter wrote the books.
So have you done anything similar? And did you do it under your own steam – or go one step further and book a tour? Doctor Who and Torchwood are apparently drawing people to Cardiff; there's a downloadable map available for Midsomer fans who fancy a day out; earlier this month lovers of The Prisoner descended on Portmeirion for PortmeiriCon; and you can hop on a vintage bus for a Heartbeat tour.
Other top TV destinations include Holmfirth for Last of the Summer Wine, Port Isaac for Doc Marten, Tobermory for Balamory, Barry for Gavin and Stacey, and Bristol for Skins. Do any of them tempt you? Or have you already spent a jolly time reliving Hamish MacBeth at Lochdubh, for instance? Share your experiences with us.
