Only Fools and Horses creator John Sullivan is said to have taken it upon himself to ban one of the show's episodes from being released in its original state after expressing his disdain for how it played out.
Released in 1986, the episode titled A Royal Flush saw Rodney and Del Boy take a trip to stay at the exquisite Berkshire home of Lady Victoria, a second cousin of the Queen.
Their visit came after Rodney, the younger brother of Del Boy, struck up a friendship with Lady Victoria, but Del Boy didn't quite manage to stick to the fancy vibe as the group enjoyed the opera and went clay pigeon shooting.
Advert
At one point during their visit to the opera, the character threatened an audience member by saying: “I am gonna come down there and smack you in the eye.”
More crass behaviour came during dinner, when Del Boy indulged in a few too many drinks and began to make jokes at Rodney's expense.
Some fans might have enjoyed seeing a new side to Del Boy, but while reflecting on the episode during the Channel 5 documentary Secrets and Scandals of Only Fools and Horses, editor Chris Wadsworth described it as a cruel, dark episode and recalled how Sullivan had simply commented: "This is not a good episode.”
Meanwhile, TV producer Richard Latto said: “The original where Del Boy is being quite cruel to Rodney....
"It is a hard watch.”
Fans of Only Fools and Horses will know Del Boy, who was played by David Jason in the original series, is typically depicted as a lovable character, but Sullivan apparently felt his behaviour in A Royal Flush didn't accurately reflect this.
Instead, he felt the character came across as condensing and a bully.
The creator passed away in 2011, but Wadsworth said that in comments made approximately 20 years after the episode's release Sullivan had questioned whether it was possible to 'do anything to take out Del being nasty'.
"The episode was shown to an audience to get a laughter track but I don’t think we succeeded completely," Wadsworth explained.
When the episode was released on DVD in 2005, it came with the addition of the audience laugh track.
Approximately 18 minutes' worth of original footage is also said to have been removed in a bid to make the episode more in keeping with the series as a whole.
The episode came just a few years after Only Fools and Horses began in 1981.
The sitcom continued until 2003.
Only Fools and Horses has consistently been voted as one of the greatest ever UK TV shows.
Topics: TV and Film, UK News
Emily Brown