Rodders & the sex dolls
It was a combination that was always guaranteed to leave TV audiences in stitches – Del Boy, plonker Rodney and a consignment of blow-up dolls.
Trotters Independent Traders never failed to provide hilarious comedy moments as they tried to flog their eclectic range of hooky gear and knock-offs.
But when Del bought a consignment of 50 blow-up dolls on the cheap to sell on to Dirty Barry – only to discover his sex-shop licence had been revoked – the laughs continued well after the cameras had stopped rolling.
On the programme, two of the dolls suddenly self-inflated in the Trotters’ flat. The brothers had to dress them in their late mother’s clothes and walk them across the estate under cover of darkness to get them into their van.
But in a new interview for The Story of Only Fools and Horses, Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played Rodney, says what happened after the filming in Bristol had wrapped was just as hilarious.
The documentary on GOLD tells the behind-the-scenes story of Britain’s best-loved comedy, including classic moments, unseen footage, and interviews with the cast, including Nicholas and Sir David Jason, who played Del Boy.
And Nicholas revealed: “I got back to my hotel to find seven sex toys superglued to various parts of my room with their valves glued in so I couldn’t deflate them.
“I looked out of my hotel room and looked up and down the corridor. I called the lift and put two in the lift.
“So I’m sorry to the hotel chain in Bristol, it was me, back in the Eighties. You can blame (writer) John Sullivan, I just wanted to get some sleep.”
The dolls, which the Trotters later discover are faulty and prone to explode, were just some of the many scams Del Boy would rope hapless brother Rodders into – and they always had hilarious consequences. The new documentary devotes an entire episode to the scrapes, mix-ups and disasters as the Trotters tried to hoodwink punters and flog dodgy goods. They have brought us some of the funniest TV moments ever.
Cocky market trader Del could sell anything – from “Peckham Spring Water” to Ethiopian mink coats and Bruce Willis wigs.
So successful was the sitcom that his name is today a byword for wheeling and dealing, and his “lovely jubbly” catchphrase is known around the world.
Sir David reveals in the documentary: “I’ve heard of people in other countries who don’t speak English, but who will still say ‘lovely jubbly’ to British tourists.
“People have obviously told them that if you want to get on with the English, you just have to say ‘lovely jubbly!’” And Sir David explains the enduring popularity of lovable Del Boy, adding: “He’s Mr Everybody. We can all relate to him. Like him, we all think we can become millionaires and that will be the solution to all our difficulties, but of course it never works out. There are people like him all over Britain. And now, amazingly enough, his popularity has spread all over the world.”