National tour for Only Fools stage show

is to hit the road next year for a tour around the UK and Ireland.

The show ended its West End run earlier this year after four years and more than 1,000 performances at the Theatre

Royal Haymarket.

The hit stage version of the classic BBC sitcom was adapted by actor and writer Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan, son of original series writer John Sullivan, to fulfil his father’s wishes for a theatre production.

It featured elements from the whole series and took five years to complete, as well as having an original score including contributions from the late Chas Hodges.

Whitehouse, who also starred as Grandad in the West End show, said: “Following four amazing years in the West End, I’m thrilled we are announcing today that

Only Fools And Horses The Musical

is going on tour.

“I’ve long been asked by many fans when this might happen, so I’m delighted to confirm that the show will be coming to a theatre near you from September next year.

“All of the characters we know and love from the Only Fools television series will be live on stage, as we take Peckham on the road. Bonnet de douche.”

The touring production will be led by the original West End director Caroline Jay Ranger and casting is due to be announced in early 2024.

It will kick off in Bromley in September 2024 before travelling to more than 30 towns and cities across the country, including York, Glasgow, Manchester and London.

It will be at the Bristol Hippodrome for a series of dates in January and February 2025.

The run will end with shows at Belfast’s Grand Opera House in June 2025 before closing on July 5 at Dublin’s Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

The show follows Del Boy trying to find his soulmate, his brother Rodney tying the knot with Cassandra, and Boycie – played on TV by John Challis from Herefordshire – and Marlene giving parenthood one final shot.

It is described as a “feel-good family celebration of traditional working-class London life in

1989 and the aspirations we all share”.

The original series, written by John Sullivan, first aired on the BBC in 1981.

It featured the colourful escapades of market trader Del Boy, played by Sir David Jason, and his less streetwise younger brother Rodney Trotter, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst, as they went through the highs and lows of life trying to become rich.