Review: Only Fools & Horses The Musical

This was my first time seeing Only Fools & Horses The Musical, and frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. Sublimating 22 years and 64 episodes of a beloved 20th-century sitcom into a stage musical seems a daunting challenge. Yet, Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan have crafted a stage show which captures the charm and timeless cheeky humour of John Sullivan’s character-filled vision of 80’s Peckham.

Wisely, while conjuring up a healthy number of the elder Sullivan’s unforgettable fictional Londoners, the musical keeps its plotting simple. Yes, it’s familiar stuff to fans, but 22 years of outstanding comedy make for a rich, heart-felt harvest.

Rodney (Tom Major) and Cassandra (Nicola Munns) are getting married and planning to move in together. Rodney’s much older brother and local ‘entrepreneur’ Del Boy (Sam Lupton) wants to help with their flat deposit, and so borrows it from a pair of local criminals. Prompted to consider his own bachelorhood, Del also signs up for a local dating agency – under a false name lest prospective dates discover his huckster reputation. Most of the audience will not be surprised when he is swiftly matched with undiscovered 30-something actress Raquel (Georgina Hagen).

These adventures in love, family and bodily well-being are full of warm, laugh-out-loud comedy. Marrying new with old, Whitehouse and Sullivan blend some of John’s best punchlines and visual gags, with cleverly pitched original material.

“Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan have crafted a stage show which captures the charm and timeless cheeky humour of John Sullivan’s character-filled vision of 80’s Peckham.”

However, daft as proceedings can get (and they do get very daft), the show never abandons its heart. Del may well find all sorts of ways to call Rodney a plonker, but it’s love which keeps the Trotters in business. It’s love for community and a lost way of life which runs through the bones of the show.

Then there’s the music, rustled up by Whitehouse, Jim Sullivan, and the late Chas Hodges (plucked from a ‘lost’ Only Fools and Horses album John Sullivan and Chas composed with a musical in mind before Sullivan died in 2011). If this isn’t the stuff of immortal cast recordings, the music and, particularly the lyrics, are still enjoyable fayre throughout. Expect lots of ‘Rockney’ piano, and cheeky saxophone to set your feet tapping, as well as a few heartfelt ballads. Oh, and look out for a couple of jukebox classics delightfully pilfered from Bill Withers and Mick Hucknall.

The joyful, tuneful drama bounces between the Trotter’s multistory flat and the local hostelry, The Nag’s Head, plus a few other choice locales. Alice Power’s set swiftly transforms as needed thanks to some smart rotating panels, and Leo Flint’s rather charming video backdrops. There are possibly a few too many scene changes, some lasting only a minute or so, but you can’t accuse the show of being static.

The cast of Only Fools and Horses The Musical. © **Johan Persson**

In the end, however, it’s the characters who made ‘Only Fools’ must-watch telly, and who make this musical a must-see experience.

Sam Lupton makes a superb Del Boy, a cheeky scoundrel with a heart of gold, and a rich font of malapropisms delivered with deadly timing. ‘Mangetout, Mangetout!’ he declares with an absolutely straight face. Tom Major makes Rodney a suitably gangly foil to his big brother’s largesse, whilst Georgina Hagen is smashing as Raquel, doughty, vulnerable and equipped with dreams as large as Del’s delusions. Her delivery of plaintive ‘I Want’ song, ‘The Girl’ is really quite sensational.

“In the end, however, it’s the characters who made ‘Only Fools’ must-watch telly, and who make this musical a must-see experience.”

It also takes a brave soul to take on the part of Del and Rodney’s Grandad, so memorably created for TV by Lennard Pearce. However comedy legend Whitehouse steps confidently into those curmudgeonly, hat-wearing shoes. Whether trotting out some truly inventive Cockney rhyming slang, burning the dinner or delivering an ode to departed comrades with – and it’s a bit of a tune – ‘Where Have All The Cockneys Gone?’, it’s a great turn.

Elsewhere, Lee VG’s deliciously deadpan Trigger resolutely calls Rodney ‘Dave’ much to everyone’s delight, whilst Craig Berry occupies Boycie’s camel overcoat with a grating laugh, and cigar-chewing swagger. Both have moments in the musical sun, and Triggers ‘Gaze Into My Ball’ as he prognosticates on Peckham’s artisanal coffee-laced future is a particularly daft pleasure.

Making new characters from minor mentions in the TV series, Richard J Hunt offers a fruitily bombastic Dating Agent, whilst Gloria Acquaah-Harrison creates a soulfully voiced, and no-nonsense Mrs Obooko. It takes an expansive cast to populate Peckham on stage, and under Director and Choreographer Caroline Jay Ranger, no one is phoning-in their performance.

In all, there’s a genuine sense that this musical has bedded in since opening to mixed reviews back in 2019. Aside from a slightly rushed finale, this is a tight, funny, and genuinely entertaining show. From the opening refrains of John Sullivan’s immortal ‘Hooky Street’ to the final gags, Only Fools and Horses The Musical is like meeting an old friend and finding them in excellent spirits.

Featured Image: L-R Sam Lupton and Tom Major © Johan Persson