Only Fools and Horses Episode Banned for 20 Years as Dark Scenes 'Will Never Be Aired'

One episode of Only Fools and Horses remained banned for nearly 20 years, with certain dark scenes unlikely to ever be shown again.

Del assists Rodney in getting into a aristacratic family

The Christmas 1986 special, A Royal Flush, was pulled from television due to its portrayal of Del Boy Trotter in a much harsher light than usual. In the episode, Rodney (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) befriends a duke's daughter, and Del (portrayed by Sir David Jason) attempts to help him make a good impression among the upper class—but his efforts go disastrously wrong.

Completed just hours before its broadcast, the episode aired without an audience laughter track. After its release, series creator John Sullivan expressed his dissatisfaction, feeling that some scenes were too dark and made Del Boy seem out of character.

One moment at an upscale dinner party sees Del publicly humiliating Rodney in front of the guests. Later, at the opera, he blocks other audience members' views and even threatens one man with violence. As a result, Sullivan decided that A Royal Flush should never be re-aired.

It wasn't until 2005 that the episode was finally released on DVD—though only after significant edits. Reports from the Daily Star confirm that audience laughter was added to soften the impact of harsher moments, and certain scenes were removed entirely.

Chris Wadsworth, the episode’s editor, explained in the Channel 5 documentary Secrets and Scandals of Only Fools and Horses, airing tomorrow (Friday), "It's quite a cruel dark episode. John said 'This is not a good episode'."

TV producer Richard Latto also reflected on the original version, saying, "The original where Del Boy is being quite cruel to Rodney... it is a hard watch."

He further revealed that years later, an attempt was made to tone down Del Boy’s character: "Some 20 years later he said 'Can we do anything to take out Del being nasty?' The episode was shown to an audience to get a laughter track but I don't think we succeeded completely."