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.

I am also a OF&H fan.I was worried than show spin offs like this won't work. Like the Friends spin off Joey...which honestly made feel sleepy. After watching the first episode I am eagerly waiting for the next one, where we will meet rest of the new characters. The characters of Boycie and Marlene work great together so it would make an interesting show based around their family life. The show is set in the present as their son is now teenager and will be interesting how his character develops. They moved to Shropshire out in the sticks and it would be interesting if they evolve or still have the London banter going on. But,John Sullivan has made a good first humorous episode and long it may continue be that way.

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.

I remember enjoying this series when it first aired on TV back in 2005. I was a tad apprehensive on whether the idea would work and was pleasantly surprised.

Boycie actually makes a great lead character and it was the right thing to take them away from Peckham. John Sullivan crafted a perfect story arc, having the Boyces on the run from the Driscoll brothers (as seen in series 6 OFAH), forcing them to leave Peckham behind.

The change of scenery works wonders and allows the show to thrive without it having to rely on been set in a familiar environment where the viewer would expect guest appearances from OFAH regulars. In fact aside from the Driscoll brothers, Denzil appears in the first episode, and Sid makes a 2 second cameo in a later Christmas Special. There are plenty of references to OFAH but the show doesn't overly rely on it's heritage.

The first series has a nice continued story arc, with Boycie, fresh on the run setting up his new farming empire. Over the first 3 episodes you are introduce to the new supporting characters. Unfortunately the majority of these are overacted and are 'stupid' for the sake of being stupid. Trigger was fantastic, as Roger Lloyd Pack played him very straight making him believable. I found Jed, Brian and Mrs Cakeworthy irritating each time they were on screen and very unbelievable. Elgin the Farm Manager was bearable but did become too over the top as the series progressed.

Tyler, Marlene and Boycie's teenage son, who only appeared as a baby in OFAH evolves as the series progresses. My favorite of the new characters is Llewellyn, Boycie's farm rival. The series works best when Llewellyn is causing Boycie trouble. Unfortunately he doesn't appear in every episode.

The series setting of a farm in Shropshire works incredibly well and it is clear that it wasn't a cheap production with many scenes appearing on location. Thanks to it been film in high definition the series still looks good today.

The biggest let down of the series is the writing. As the show evolved, John Sullivan allowed other writers to craft their own episodes. As a result the series suffered, with the majority of these episodes not raising a laugh.

The first 2 series are the best with the third just being watchable and series 4 one to forget. I was gutted when the BBC 'shelved' this project in 2010 as compared to other traditional sitcoms, this was the best. On reflection though, the forth series was incredibly weak.

Maybe John Sullivan should have remained the writer throughout and thrown in a few more guest appearances to entice the viewing public.

A lot to like for fans of Only Fools and traditional UK sitcoms.

I haven't felt so ashamed to be English since last Wednesday when Northern Ireland beat us at football. This show is AWFUL. I thought it would be bad but even my very worst expectations were surpassed, and then some. John Sullivan wrote the utterly brilliant Only Fools & Horses which - for more than 2 decades - was Britain's best loved sitcom and then he comes up with this trash. Boycie & Marlene, 2 of the characters from OF&H leave Peckham for a new life in the country and to avoid the infamous Driscoll brothers. Boycie's evidence "sent them down" but now they're out on a technicality and looking for revenge, apparently. I only hope they find the Boyce family, AND SOON. John Challis & Sue Holderness were both hilarious in the fabulous show which made them famous but this pathetic drivel doesn't even get off the starting blocks. They both seem to be struggling to remember their Boycie & Marlene characters and their son "Tyler" is played by a young actor who has about as much charisma as a whelk, and he looks like one too. There's no "soul" to this horrible show and it simply isn't funny. The only time I've even "smiled" so far has been when Boycie makes references to his mates the Trotters and that by the way is incredibly cheap of Mr Sullivan. Only Fools & Horses was SO successful because the audience didn't just care about Del & Rodney & Uncle Albert, we LOVED them and you just can't have Boycie & Marleen WITHOUT "the trotters" and their Reliant 3-wheeler. I'm prepared to bet anyone out there £100 that this show does not complete it's first series and then vanishes without trace. It should never have been made. 1 out of 10.