The Green Green Grass

As a massive Only Fools and Horses fan, I began watching the first episode of John Sullivan's new sitcom with a certain degree of trepidation. My fear was that my fondness for OF&H would be ruined by a cheap, quickly knocked out spin-off featuring the classic comedy creations that are Boycie and Marlene. However, I was almost completely wrong. I think that a true Only Fools fan would find it impossible not to laugh at this fish-out-of-water caper, even if it is Boycie just doing almost exactly what he did in OF&H (slagging off Marlene, being tight, and just being quite nasty). Just this time it's got a new, nicer setting. Another of my worries was that Sullivan would just milk Only Fools for all its worth, by name dropping the entire population of Peckham. Wrong again, he didn't do this. Del-Boy was mentioned once or twice and there was a cameo from Paul Barber (Denzil), but apart from that there was no real mentions of any core Only Fools characters. For anyone walking around saying things such as "The Only Fools And Horses Cash Cow Has Been Well Milked" clearly hasn't got a clue what they're talking about. Although this comedy series isn't exactly a fresh concept, it is very entertaining indeed. To summarise, I think that the legend that is John Sullivan is on top form, and the rest of the series should hopefully be a joy to watch.

After the final three episodes of Only Fools And Horses when it was revived in 2001 gained a less than positive response from the press it was a surprise to see that the show's very talented writer John Sullivan had this spin off featuring much loved characters Boycie and Marlene up his sleeve.

It ends up being a nice surprise. While it was never going to match Only Fools it never really tries to and instead it becomes its own beast. The premise works, the new characters introduced are all very funny and happily the relationship between Boycie and Marlene gets fleshed out far more than would have been possible in Only Fools.

The best episodes are the ones penned by Sullivan and it was only when other writers started to contribute that the standard of the show dipped a little. However there are certainly more good episodes than average ones and this show is good fun throughout all four of it's series'.

This show is not the funniest British comedy but it is certainly not one of the worst around. I actually laughed and look forward to it. The cast is good, the plot and setting make it interesting, and the characters need time to get developed but the actors who play them are quite worth watching. I like the husband and wife and son. The fact that Gareth Gwenlan who also produced Waiting For God produces this show gives me faith that it will get better. I don't know who Sullivan is. Yes, Only Fools and Horses, was a classic British comedy but it doesn't just happen. A good comedy takes time and work to nourish it along the way. It's not perfect but it's not rubbish neither, it's worth watching and there are few good new British comedies that are around to enjoy and this one is a favorite of mine. I wish British comedies did have the season of American shows. A season in American can range from 14 on the cable stations to 26 on the networks. There are some shows who have less episodes than others but that's a whole other story of politics and money. I wish BBC and other British stations would nurture British comedies in the same manner that they nurture reality television shows which are just awful.

For those who have BBC Three , they will be surprised to see Simon Day's "Grass" being well and truly ripped off by John Sullivan in this Only Fools and Horses spin off . In "Grass" Simon Day's character Billy Bleach "grassed" on a local London gangster and through the witness protection act was relocated to the sticks of Norfolk. The underrated six part comedy tackled the ideas of country meets city and a fish being out of a water. Replace Billy Bleach with Boycie and add Marlene and son Tyler and you have the plot for the "Green Green Grass" staring you in the face . The basic idea of the show is taking Sullivan's well loved east end (of London) humour from Only Fools And Horses and setting it in a completely different background , the opportunities for humour being how will a cockney con man interact with manure kicking yokels instead of the likes of his own ? Coming on BBC 1 on a Friday at 830 vastly limits and waters down the potential for border line humour and leaves the audience with the sort of harmless weak humour that has done "My Family" and "My Hero" no favours and also being an Only Fools And Horses spin off within the early moments the jokes feel very tired because we've had twenty years of it in Sullivan's first sit-com , for instance there is a scene at the beginning where Boycie finds that his satellite navigation system is not up to scratch and guess who sold it to him ?? This joke sets the tone for tired Only...jokes to be repeated again and again , I can imagine Boycie meeting country high society types in the next few episodes and making "hilarious" faux pas , which could be funny if Del Boy hadn't of done it for two decades of Only... . This show will ultimately fail because of the writer and because it is on 8.30 on BBC 1 , devoid and humour and ideas , the strings in your heart it will try to tug are better served by watching old episodes of Only on DVD.

This series has a great feel to it. Of course it cannot be compared to Only Fools, nothing can. But it's great to see how Sullivan developed these characters. Makes me wish he'd done it with others, too. A great series to have on in the house.