Only Fools fans can relive classic seaside trip

Tours based on one of Only Fools and Horses' best-known episodes are being launched in Margate.

The "Jolly Boys' Outing", filmed in the seaside town in 1989, remains one of the sitcom's most popular instalments.

Fans can follow in the footsteps of the Trotters on a new coach tour hosted by the production manager behind the original episode.

Christmas Day 1989 saw more than 20m people tune in to watch the feature-length special. Behind-the-scenes images are now held by the Only Fools and Horses Appreciation Society.

The episode saw Del Boy, Rodney and Uncle Albert, played by actors Sir David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Buster Merryfield, embark on a chaotic, ill-fated coach trip, along with the Nag's Head pub regulars, down to the coast from their home in Peckham, south-east London.

Adrian Pegg, production manager on the episode, said keeping one of its biggest moments a secret during filming was a challenge.

"One of the trickiest things I think was trying to keep the big gag of the series, which was the coach exploding, secret," he said.

"We were convinced that when we were in the coach park setting up for this huge explosion, paparazzi would be looking with long lens cameras and trying to spoil it."

He said steps were taken to prevent images leaking ahead of its broadcast.

"I can remember moving all the prop coaches in a circle, like putting the wagons in a circle around our exploding coach, just to try to stop the cameras from spoiling Christmas Day."

Author Mike Jones, who has written about the series, said the episode got the characters out of the studio.

"Up to this point, the series had been on for nine years, and we'd seen all these wonderful characters in brilliant studio sets at Television Centre," he said.

"This was the only time really they all came out on location," he added.

"They're all running around the beach, going around the theme park, Dreamland, and it's just a delight to see them on that scale."

"I see David Jason fairly regularly," Pegg said.

"We still have Only Fools and Horses conventions and at the last one I spoke to him about this, and he recorded a nice little message that we play in the coach to the people who come on the tour."

As part of the tour, Sir David's recorded message is played to visitors.

"To all the plonkers sitting on the coach wanting to know what it was like when we were there, we had a really great time," he says. "It really was amazing.

"So I hope you enjoy it as much as we did when we were making Only Fools and Horses. You know it makes sense."

Tickets for tours are available in June and July.

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