Only Fools and Horses dining experience accused of copyright by musical producers

It is a wheeze worthy of Del Boy. The producers of Only Fools and Horses The Musical have accused the makers of a cabaret-style dinner show inspired by the BBC characters of infringing copyright and presenting a “low quality” version of the classic sitcom.

Phil McIntyre Entertainments (PME) is promoting the musical, which opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in February with the endorsement of the estate of John Sullivan, who wrote the long-running sitcom.

It alleges its rights have been infringed by Interactive Theatre International (ITI) after it created a cabaret-style show inspired by the series. The London-based immersive theatre company began touring Only Fools, The Cushty Dining Experience in the UK in September before taking up residence in a Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel in central London in October.

That company said the show, which promises to “transport audiences to The Nags Head for wheeling, dealing and eating”, was innocent of copyright infringement as it does not use scripts or music from the original show.

According to ITI, lawyers instructed by the John Sullivan estate wrote to the company earlier this year to warn it against using material but received no further contact. According to ITI, PME allegedly accused it of acting without a licence, not paying royalties to Sullivan’s estate and presenting a “low quality show”.

ITI responded by threatening its own legal action against PME unless the row was resolved amid claims that its business was being damaged.

PME said it was unhappy with ITI’s theatrical dining experiences and accused the company of presenting a performances based on Only Fools and Horses that do not compensate the original creators, while it (PME) offered an authorised production that did.  The Sullivan estate did not respond to requests for comment.  The row began in 2015 when ITI unveiled Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, which is still presented in Britain and Australia. At the same time, John Cleese, the original series star and co-writer, launched a theatre show with PME. In 2016, Cleese accused ITI of ripping off the TV series and said he was considering legal action.

Alison Pollard-Mansergh, of ITI, said she had contacted Cleese’s former management and was advised the dinner show did not breach Fawlty Towers copyright. She said: “I feel PME is bullying venues into not taking our shows in a bid to bully us out of the market.”