Del Boy prequel planned

The BBC is in talks about making a possible prequel to Only Fools And Horses.

Series creator John Sullivan has written a script for a sitcom about a teenage Del Boy growing up in Sixties Peckham.

He first had the idea in 1997, and in six years ago the BBC announced that the show had been commissioned, calling for young actors who wanted to play Del Boy to come forward.

But nothing ever came it, and instead the corporation made the The Green Green Grass, the fish-out-of-water spin-off featuring Boycie and Marlene living in the countryside.

However, according to the Independent on Sunday, the prequel idea has been dusted down.

‘I'm having a lot of fun writing it because it's set in the same period as when I was growing up,’ Sullivan told the paper.

‘Joanie [the Trotters’ mother] will be a key character, and during the film will give birth to Rodney. We'll also see Grandad as a much younger man.’

He has previously said that the pilot episode would see Del Boy bunking off school, becoming a mod and flogging dodgy gear to his mates Boycie, Denzil and Trigger.

A spokeswoman for Sullivan's production company Shazam said the sitcom was one of several projects the BBC was discussing with the writer.

Published: 11 Jan 2009