Rock & Chips

John Sullivan took a lot of risks here. The biggest two being 1) Making a prequel to Only Fools and Horses at all, and 2) making it an out and out drama instead of a sitcom.

It's a tough tightrope to walk, but I'd say that it manages to work for the most part.

The positives pretty much come from the fantastic performances, with the standout being Nicolas Lyndhurst himself, who is quite frankly, phenomenal here! Lyndhurst shows some astounding range in the role as Freddy Robdal, and not once did I see Rodney Trotter on the screen. He was totally convincing as this completely other character, and it really shows what a fine actor he is. James Buckley is really likeable as the Young Del Boy, although I think they could have cast someone who resembles David Jason a bit more, and Kellie Bright gets the lions share of screentime as Joan Trotter which is no bad thing as she uses it well.

There are negatives to be sure and they mostly come from expectations., We've heard so much about these unseen characters over the years that you start to form ideas in your head about what they are like, and here some of them just seemed a bit off. Joan Trotter is a much more tragic character that the "good time tart" we were led to believe, and while this adds interesting dramatic layers, it's a little out of continuity. Similarly, Freddy Robdal was spoken of as a highly likable and charming man, yet here he seems cold, standoffish, and more manipulative than charming. It was a great performance, but again, one which didn't quite fit the continuity.

Other flaws are more subjective, but still exist. The problem with having different actors in established roles is that they tend to do their own interpretation of that character, but after 30 odd years of being used to certain mannerisms, to change it makes the characters almost unrecognisable. The cast here all throw in some decent little nods to their respective characters' known traits, and the highlights were when you spotted something familiar, so one maybe wishes that they had done more of a flat out impersonation instead of keeping the audience waiting for small moments.

The series is very watchable and it's a fascinating look into this world which we have only heard about in passing, although it seems a little unfocused and doesn't know whether to concentrate on the Freddy Robdal/Joan Trotter side of things or the Young Del Boy and his gang. It jumps between them evenly, but this breaks momentum for both and sometimes can make it feels like you are waiting for one side to pick up again.

I feel like this series perhaps wasn't given the attention it deserves. Apparently the BBC did not allocate a decent budget for the production, and with a period piece you need money to make it convincing. However, the show does look exceptionally good for what little cash it had, but it maybe feels like it could have had a bigger scale. It reminds me somewhat of Dennis Potter's "Lipstick on your Collier" series from 1993 and that's a vibe which works well with Rock and Chips, but maybe wasn't quite as well realised here.

It's a shame that only three installments were made. I think if it had been given a proper budget and time to develop it would have become a classic. I'd loved to have seen other characters such as a young Uncle Albert or young Marline make an appearance, and there's so much more lore that could have been explored in the world of the Trotters.

Still, this is a well made trilogy that has a lot of heart, and while it can sometimes lose focus, it's worth it for the splendid performances alone.

As a fan of the television series Only Fools and Horses I was well aware that write John Sullivan had at times retcon the Trotter family history here and there when the comedy series was running.

When the prequel Rock & Chips was made I felt the reconning went to overtime and by this period I felt Mr Sullivan who was soon to pass away had lost his comedy mojo.

The pilot episode started brightly enough and with high viewing figures with a mixture of music, nostalgia and comedy-drama.

We are transported to the Peckham of the 1960s when Del boy was younger, cocky but a little bit green.

It is more about Joan Trotter much mentioned in the original series living a downtrodden life with a no good husband, Reg. A character who only once appeared in OFAH as their long lost dad. A younger version of Granddad is also there showing traits we saw in the original comedy show.

Joan is a cinema usher with a pervy boss and meets the charming ex- con Freddie Robdal played by Nicholas Lyndhurst who charms her takes her away from her humdrum life.

Lyndhurst is having a ball plying the charming but also ruthless Freddie the Frog. You simply forget Rodney the Plonker. However he was a minor character in the OFAH canon who is playing a bigger role in events and the surrounding characters. I always assumed he was someone Joan had a fling with, around for a short time and disappeared. He may or may not had been Rodney's dad. A mute point now given that Lyndhurst plays Friddie.

The show was not too funny because it was more of a drama which left young Del Boy out in the cold and his friends such as Boycie were too minor as characters. For OFAH geeks like me Joan was painted very much as an angel here as in the original show, although she was spoken in the past tense as she died when Rodney was an infant, she was supposedly a bit of a floozy.

By the time the third episode came around the viewers lost interest in the show. The main reason was because the show was disjointed and lacked focus. We expected a comedy about the misadventures of young Del boy and we did not get it.

This prog was hyped up, big time, in the uk & going into it i thought i was going to be disappointed by having hopes set too high on the utter brilliance of "only fools." For the first ten minutes i could not get out of the mindset of only fools and wanted to see some of the gags and jokes we've come to know the trotters for over the years. However, after settling into the story i found myself intrigued by the trotters begginings & pleasantly surprised. "Rock & chips" has a far more serious mood too it than only fools did,with no laughter track and subtle jokes and some well-placed gags.The mix of humour and drama is excellent! I think this is where it will excel and grow substantially,as it lets us see what life was really like for the trotters in 60's London. I say give it a watch even if u haven't seen only fools, as it can work both ways with prequels and sequels. Top-notch bbc again!!!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

John Sullivan managed to keep the Only Fools and Horses legend running for nearly twenty five years, and delivered something that is undoubtedly a true British institution that grew so it couldn't be constrained by the mere format of a TV show. Although it had undoubtedly been stretched as far as it could go by the time the last feature length special was shown in 2003, there was something in the sub-conscious of each fan, that could easily take on knowing, something even just a little bit more about the characters, so durable in the memory were they. The easiest, but probably the most effective thing to do, would be to re-trace the story of Del's early life, before becoming the character we stuck with for so many years.

And so we are taken to Peckham in the 1960s, where the mystical Joan Trotter (Kellie Bright) lives in a run-down street with her thoughtless, abusive pig of a husband Reg (Shaun Dingwell) and the young Del boy (James Buckley.) She ekes by a living as a cinema usherette, having to put up with her pervy boss and the thought of never escaping this run down life...until a chance encounter with recently released con Freddie Robdal (Nicolas Lyndhurst) comes by, setting the course of her life and the lives of those closest to her on a rickety collision course that will change everything forever.

The shiny, camcorder like lens that it's filmed in gives it a cheap look that detracts from it a bit, but this is something you just learn to overlook. The Inbetweeners's Buckley is an inspired choice as the young Del Boy, as well as Daniels as a younger version of Leonard Pearce's Grandad. Lyndhurst is quite a subversive choice to play Robdal, but given who we later learned who he was in relation to Rodney, who better? What's disappointing is the under developed younger side characters in the shape of Del's mates, including Boycie, Denzel, Trigger, Slater et al...which could have been quite interesting.

Played more for drama than for laughs, this has a reputation that precedes it and so makes it even more affectionate for long time fans. Doesn't quite deliver in every way, but not a bad effort for something that was always going to come along eventually. ***

I can take or leave 'Only Fools', bit too slapstick for me - the canned laughter, the crammed-in gags - but I like it enough to check this out. What I saw was a pleasant surprise.

If you want 'Only Fools', approach carefully. Yes, this is comedy, but much more a 'family drama' than 'Only Fools' ever was. R&C wants you to invest in the characters - Del and Rodney's parents, grandparents, Del himself, and Lyndhurst - 'Only Fools'' Rodney - pulling off a surprisingly convincing suave yet thuggish criminal - and by the end you feel more for them than you can from watching 'Only Fools' in its entirety. It is, dare I say it, more intelligent fare than 'Only Fools' and benefits from it.

Indeed, R&C may have profited from having no connection with 'Only Fools' at all. Knowledge of subsequent events constrains R&C in plot development, so much of what's to come we can surmise from our knowledge of 'Only Fools', stripping R&C of some potential tension. Moreover, 'Only Fools' fans tuning in to this as a prequel may find themselves disappointed while others, perhaps not great fans of 'Only Fools', may miss out on a treat for the association.