Only Fools and Horses the Musical

“Lovely Jubbly”, “You plonker”, “This time next year we’ll be millionaires” – Del Boy

These are now my favorite quotes from the hit BBC TV series, Only Fools and Horses. My partner has been a fan of the show since he was little, I’ve seen specials but not the full show. For his birthday I surprised him and bought us tickets to go see the musical. It happened to be the last night of the performance. Here’s our experience…

Only Fools and Horses is based on the hit TV show of the same name. The show has three main characters, Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad / Uncle Albert. The show is based around Rodney’s wedding to Cassandra as well as Del Boy and Raquel’s meeting. The show has moved theatre, but its stint in London’s west end was coming to an end the night we went to see it.

We arrived at the theatre with crowds of people. including two people dressed up as Del Boy and Rodney. As usual, I bought a program and we took our seats and the musical started. It opened up to roars of clapping hands and people cheering. I knew at that moment this was going to be a unique showing.

The second song called Only Fools and Horses Hooky Street, is based on the intro and exit song they use in the TV series. The whole theatre was clapping along to the song. Normally this happens at the end, so it came as a surprise for me. The cast was not phased and they carried on.

The show had lots of jokes and references to the TV show which he got straight away. As a newbie, I was able to follow the show and giggled myself. I now get why he sings in the dating agency, why the two brothers are of different heights, and why Rodney is called Dave. The interval break came and I had so many questions, that my partner said we need to watch the full TV series and specials. I’m glad we did as I keep saying “Oh they did that joke in the musical!”

The music of the show was upbeat, catchy, and influenced by Chas and Dave. By the time the show ended and the last song came on everyone was up on their feet singing and dancing to Hooky Street with a three-wheeled van coming on stage. Whenever I see a musical show, I always come home and listen to the soundtrack on repeat. This time I have caught my other half singing along to the music as well.

Paul Whitehouse who played Grandad / Uncle Albert got up and spoke. He thanked the cast, the writers, and the band of the show. The cast showed the same respect to him, they spoke about the show going out on tour.

After the show was done, I was in the toilets, hearing some women saying they wished they had seen the show earlier. They said they would go out and see the show again if it was on tour. I was listening in thinking yes, I would do the same. Since watching the TV show fully, I think I would laugh and smile more. If the show goes out on tour, I would highly recommend seeing the show. 

Bonjour!