How the Only Fools and Horses musical writer found the final showstopper song in his dad's garage
It is the sort of luck that made millionaires of Del Boy and Rodney in Only Fools And Horses.
The co-writer of the musical version of the hit BBC sitcom has revealed how the chance discovery of a forgotten song on a cassette in a garage helped to inspire the West End show.
Jim Sullivan, whose late father John created the hit BBC sitcom, was clearing out his parents’ garage when he happened upon what would become the show-stopping song for the finale.
The chance finding echoes a 1996 episode of the TV show — starring David Jason as Del Boy Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney — when the brothers’ wildest dreams are realised after a hugely valuable antique watch is found in Del’s garage and makes millions at auction.
The musical was written by Sullivan the younger with Fast Show comedian Paul Whitehouse, who takes the part of Grandad.
The pair also worked with Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock, who wrote some of the 20 new songs for the show, before Hodges’s death last year.
Mr Sullivan said: “My dad had been considering adapting the series to a musical for many years, but sadly never got to fully commit to it.
“When we began developing the idea for the musical back in 2015, the first thing I did was to search my dad’s notes. I knew from talking with him that he wanted to base the story around the ‘Dates’ episode, in which Del and Raquel first met, which was his personal favourite, and I found snippets of ideas and a two-page opening scene.
“A few months later I was helping mum clear out the garage when I came across an old cassette tape with the words ‘This Time Next Year’ written on it. We played it and there was Chas and Dave as Del and Rodney belting out, ‘We’re gonna be all right, the good times are on their way’. Mum recalled dad had gone to Chas’s studio back in the late Nineties to work on a song idea and this was obviously the result.
“So we had the beginning of an opening scene and what I felt would make a great and uplifting final song. Our job then was to fill in the middle bit.”
PhoneShop comedian Tom Bennett plays Del Boy with up-and-coming actor Ryan Hutton as Rodney.
Mr Sullivan added: “The bar is set high, but we have a brilliant and dedicated cast.”
From February 9 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
