Del Boy returns to TV as teenager

Only Fools and Horses first appeared on BBC One in 1981

Only Fools and Horses wide-boy Derek Trotter is returning to BBC One in a comedy drama about his teenage years.

Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Chips, set in 1960 and written by Only Fools scribe John Sullivan, will also focus on Del's "tarty" mother, Joan, and father, Reg.

Sullivan said it would give viewers an insight "into why Del and Rodney turned out they way they did".

Filming for the one-off 90-minute show, which will be shown next year, will start on location in London in August.

The Trotter brothers, Del - played by David Jason - and Rodney - played by Nicholas Lyndhurst - first hit television screens in 1981.

Dodgy Del Boy, whose catchphrases including "you plonker!" and "lovely jubbly", is one of the UK's best loved TV characters - with Only Fools and Horse consistently topping the polls for best comedy programmes.

'Ruffled feathers'

Sullivan said the new show would be "set in the real 60s, before The Beatles and Mary Quant made London the coolest place on the planet".

Seven series and 19 Christmas specials were made

"The drama will feature South London at its least glamorous, where money was scarce, the staple diet was rock salmon and chips, and the flicks offer the only hint of glamour," he said.

The BBC said that, while the Trotter family had not yet moved into their flat in Nelson Mandela House, other familiar settings, including the Nag's Head, would appear.

The plot will revolve around the release of safe cracker Freddie Robdal from prison after serving a 10-year sentence which will "ruffle some feathers in the Trotter household".

A teenage Trigger will also appear in the show, as well as Boycie and Denzel.

BBC head of comedy Mark Freeland said the prospect of "once upon a time in Peckham" was "incredibly tantalising".

"Nearly 30 years since Only Fools And Horses hit our screens, now we'll have the chance to see the vivid, bittersweet drama that underpinned the iconic series," he said.

Meanwhile, the BBC has also announced that the classic children's book Just William is to be made into a Sunday afternoon TV series on BBC One.