Sir David Jason has expressed his belief that Del Boy's millionaire status in Only Fools and Horses was a mistake, as it detracted from the show's charm. In the 1996 Christmas special Time On Our Hands, Derek Trotter and his brother Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) finally became millionaires after selling an 18th Century Harrison marine watch they found in Del's garage at Sotheby's for £6.2 million.
The episode, which attracted 24.3 million viewers on BBC1, saw fans thrilled to see the Trotter boys achieve their dream. However, Sir David, who portrayed Del Boy, feels that allowing the wheeler and dealer to realise his dream was a misstep by writer John Sullivan, as the character's struggle to make ends meet was a key element of the show's humour.
At a fan convention, he stated: "There was nowhere to go after the Trotters became millionaires and it all worked out. It was the end of a journey and the journey was that struggle for survival, the struggle for the family, the way that they behaved, that interaction, and all of that stuff that made the Trotters ceased to exist once they had become millionaires, if you like." Despite this, John revived the sitcom for three more Christmas specials between 2001 and 2003, depicting Del and Rodney losing all their money due to poor investments and returning to their flat in Mandela House in Peckham.
However, these episodes failed to recapture the magic of the original series, reports the Mirror . David, 84, shed light on the situati.
