User Reviews

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.

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 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.

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.

Only Fools and Horses lost its way years ago - so I wasn't surprised to discover that this series was a steaming pile of horse manure. How anyone can find this amusing is beyond me. The only thing that brings a smile to my face is Boycie's laugh. The new characters are weak and the story lines are poor. OFAH will always remain one of England's finest comedies but John Sullivan hasn't produced anything funny in years. Comedies such as Blackadder and The Office knew when to call it a day, even when the public were demanding another series. It's a shame that John Sullivan decided to run the OFAH name into the ground, because up till the last few Christmas Specials it was truly flawless. It seems that Sick Boy's unifying theory of life from Trainspotting was right: "At one point you've got it, then you lose it, and it's gone forever." The King is dead... Long live the king.

This sitcom is a spin-off from Only Fools and Horses, in which Boycie and Marlene move to rural Shropshire. It's one of the worst sitcoms ever made.

The humour in OFAH works because the characters, acting and story lines are good. Most of the TGGG's characters are stereotypical uneducated rural idiots and the situations aren't funny. Boycie and Marlene's son is awful.

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.

There is definitely that funny touch that reminds of only fools and horses, and some familiar faces slip in here and there, of course Del and Rodney are missing and it's a shame that they didn't play at least one episode. This is a separate series, but according to some logic, it must be evaluated so that it is compared to the series only fools and horses, because it is simply the same story and the same target audience (fans of the only fools and horses TV show). Unlike the previous series, which portrayed the lower intelligence of certain characters in a completely different way, here they actually show it in a less comical way, where the character is shown in a really ugly way in a lot of situations as being really stupid in a tasteless way. There is nothing worse for a series than when you have characters who are antipathetic and boring and simply do not fit into the whole story, here it is Mrs. Cakeworthy (Ella K.) and Tyler (Jack Doolan), those two characters literally kill every episode, the situations with them are uninteresting, not funny, somehow they just don't fit into the whole story. Sometimes in some episodes there are moments when you literally laugh out loud because of the humor and the situations, but because of the characters mentioned above and their not very good impact on the whole show, the episode soon becomes monotonous.

Challis isnt funny... in only fools he was a support to the trotters... the script in green grass is woeful writing and ooo arrr accents are just insulting Challis I read bemoans lack of offers after this and benidorm... yh I see why

Accents that are woeful, actors given poor scripts and no comedy aspects at all

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

When the testimony of Boycie (John Challis) nearly sends the Driscoll Brothers, two of Peckham's most notorious gangsters, down before the case collapses due to a technicality, him, his infamous wife Marlene (Sue Holderness) and their teenage son Tyler are forced to relocate to the Staffordshire countryside, where their big city ways create a 'hilarious' culture clash with the stuck in their ways locals.

This long-awaited spin off of the hugely successful (and rightfully so) BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses finally came to the end of it's series last night. But I missed it, along with the last two episodes before it. Which should be an indication of, despite how eagerly I awaited it, intently missable I ended up finding it.

I had this strong suspicion it would all fall flat on it's face before I even saw it and I'm sure there were those whose knives were sharpening straight away who wanted it to fail. But, sadly, to a large degree, this is what's happened.

Being as huge as OFAH was, a spin-off show was always going to happen one day. And, short of Del and Rodney being the two leading stars and basically just starting another series again, Boycie ('heh heh heh heh heh heh heh') and Maaar-lene were probably the best characters to choose (although the writer showed a bit of indecision by having Denzil make a guest appearance in the first episode!) But whichever way you look at it, it's a series that's simply clutching at straws and the desperation cracks are apparent from the off-set, even with John Sullivan back as the writer (more money in the bank.)

The main problem is simply that it's rarely ever funny. There were only one or two moments that raised a mild chuckle, and I can't even remember the jokes. Challis and Holderness desperately try to re-ignite the chemistry they once shared, but the dead script simply kills any chance of it. The show appears very cheap and slapped together in light of it's source of inspiration, most apparent in the opening and closing credits, with some clunky production values to match it. The only other redeeming feature is Sullivan singing the opening theme again in true OFAH vein.

You knew it was desperate to begin with, and that it would never match the quality of where it came from. And, sadly, here what you see is what you get. **

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 show works great as a spin off but it's not as good as Only Fools And Horses to be fair though nobody said it would be and I never expected it to be either. The dry wit is still there and it's very amusing when it comes up with the right dialogue. There's been times I've thought this just isn't working but then there's been other times where I've really laughed at what the characters have been saying. On the whole I'm glad that this spin off series was made as it's been great to see the characters involved again. Only the beeb could make a spin off to such an iconic program work and this is what they have done here. Looking forward to the Christmas special and then hopefully a new series in the new year.

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.