To Hull and Back

The first feature length Trotters Christmas episode, and it's a good one.

While perhaps a little slow, and it takes a while to get used to the show not having a laugh track, this remains a very strong episode, and one with several memorable moments.

John Sullivan manages to pen something that feels epic and like a mini movie, while not losing what makes 'Only Fools' great.

I hadn't seen it in a while, but was glad to revisit it.

The Trotters get caught up in a diamond smuggling operation.

John Sullivan's script has the perfect mix of plot and character moments. I find it hard not to get caught up in their adventure as well as enjoy the humour.

Del, Rodney and Albert are the main focus and to me they are very funny and memorable. I never tire of hearing their banter about marine navigation. This is some of the funniest dialogue to me and is performed brilliantly (like all scenes) by David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Buster Merryfield.

Other recurring and guest characters are also used superbly, such as Roy Slater, Denzil, Boycie, Abdul, Hoskins, and Trigger, with all the associated actors on great form.

Ray Butt uses locations in London, Hull and Amsterdam very effectively to make it feel like a 'special' episode. I think it generally has a more cinematic tone and this is further enhanced by not having a laughter-track.

As always comedy is in the eye of the beholder, but I think it is possible to watch To Hull and Back without having seen any other episodes of Only Fools and Horses, and it still has the same effect. That final ironic scene on the balcony of the flat still makes me sick to my stomach!

The 1985 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special To Hull and Back really pushed the boat out in terms of both writing and production values. Running to 90 minutes, shot on film rather than videotape, and featuring location work in Amsterdam, this was no less than a proper film with an appropriately ambitious plot and the total absence of a laugh track, an unthinkable move for most sitcoms of the era. By now Only Fools and Horses was a major hit and To Hull and Back was given a prime slot in the Christmas Day schedule, pitted against ITV's Minder special Minder on the Orient Express and coming out on top with an audience of 17 million. This feels like the moment when the Only Fools and Horses Christmas special really became an event and for the next eight years there would always be a Christmas episode, invariably shown on Christmas Day itself.

Eschewing the Christmas setting and heightened emotionalism of the previous two year's specials, To Hull and Back opts instead for an all-out crime caper in which Del, Rodney and Uncle Albert get involved in a diamond smuggling plot on behalf of the shady Boycie and his associate Abdul. The elaborately constructed plots that John Sullivan had started to favour in series 3 inform To Hull and Back, with a very clever central scam being supplemented with a terrific series of closing scenes in which twist follows twist. Sullivan manages to have his Christmas cake and eat it too, with a brilliant final sequence in which the Trotters win and lose at the same time, fulfilling viewers equal desire to see their favourite family come out on top while also enjoying their comedic blunders.

To Hull and Back is the middle episode of a trilogy featuring Jim Broadbent as the imposing, crooked police officer Roy Slater, an old school mate of Del's who's mistreatment during those years has resulted in a far-reaching vendetta against his former classmates and seemingly the whole of Peckham. Despite only appearing in three episodes, Slater became an iconic figure in Only Fools mythology, partly thanks to the exceptional performance of Broadbent. Generally associated with more affable roles (and originally considered for the part of Del), Broadbent makes Slater a genuinely frightening figure but underscores the performance with the vulnerability of a wounded schoolboy. Of course, this dimension is in the writing too, with the Slater episodes being some of the finest work Sullivan ever did.

Having only been rewatching the Christmas specials this festive season, I've missed seeing the gallery of characters associated with Only Fools and Horses since the first three specials focus exclusively on the Trotters. But by this stage the ensemble is in place and fans expected to see all their favourites in the festive episode. So we get short cameos from Trigger and Mike, as well as larger roles for Boycie, who is integral to the plot, and Denzil, who gets a funny subplot in which he thinks he is being haunted by visions of Del. This is also Buster Merryfield's first Christmas special after he was hastily written into the series to replace the late Lennard Pearce's Grandad. This sort of major cast change can be a blow from which a sitcom never recovers but Uncle Albert already feels like a longterm fixture here, maintaining that generational divide within the Trotter family without simply replicating what Pearce brought to the series. Albert's maritime experience actually plays a key role here, setting up a series of scenes in which the Trotters get lost at sea. It's a crucial part of the plot which couldn't have been convincingly pulled off with the character of Grandad, which just shows how Sullivan was able to capitalise on the sudden changes he had to make to the series, rather than let them damage the quality.

In terms of dated elements, there's very little of the sexism that tainted the earlier Christmas specials but the questionable racial content is higher. In most cases, it is merely an accurate reflection of the characters and the language they would use, such as when the loathsome Slater refers to a "little p*ki gang" or Del's surge of patriotism finds him eulogising the days when the British would "stitch up the d*gos." Although a line about Denzil's tiredness making him dark around the eyes is problematic given that it was written by a white man, the fact that it comes from Denzil himself contextualises it as a gentle self-ribbing. The only severely sour note is a scene in which Del tricks a black man into buying from him by pretending to be a racist, and this is followed quite soon by a conversation about a man Slater erroneously arrested in which his race is repeatedly but completely superfluously alluded to. It's more baffling than offensive but coming so soon after the dodgier scene it pointlessly exacerbates the discomfort.

But a few inevitable signs of its era are not enough to lower my rating of To Hull and Back from the full 5 stars. This has long been one of my favourite Only Fools and Horses episodes, perhaps topped only by the subsequent Chain Gang, which builds upon the plot intricacies of this episode to create an even cleverer crime caper which stands as one of my favourite TV scripts ever. To Hull and Back isn't far behind, although it feels odd to class this as a TV script because its scope, length and production values all make it feel like a cinema release. A comparatively low budget one, but a big screen experience nonetheless. With a plot that sends the main characters abroad, To Hull and Back could've fallen into naff Holiday on the Buses territory but rather than feel like one of those 70s sitcom spinoff films that attempted to milk one last hurrah from the scraps of residual popularity at the end of their parent series' natural life, To Hull and Back moves its parent series forward, proving the potential for Only Fools and Horses to explore bigger and better canvases, the like of which could never have been foreseen during that modest first series.

The first of two (I think) episodes with no laugh track and as a result some scenes are shown for what they really are (like the opening scene in the pub): okay scenes but with pretty out of date jokes. There are a couple of pretty racist-sounding moments as well which might offend some people but I prefer to judge things by the period they were made and not by today's standards and so this doesn't put me off in the slightest.

This is by no means the funniest episode but there's much more to it than that. At 90 minutes it's the longest episode so far (and I think of all of them, perhaps only the Jolly Boy's Outing is of equal length) but it doesn't struggle to fill the time once it gets going.

Almost all of it is filmed out of the flat (on the road, on a boat and in various outdoor and indoor locations) and even when they are in the flat for the final scene it is filmed from unique angles and it feels different. The second of three episodes to feature Slater. His story his quite tragic in many ways but he gets what he asks for in this one.

So, a few laughs, a longer than usual episode, loads of new locations, and just a pretty damn good time to be honest.

Del Boy is convinced by Boycie and Abdul to take part in a diamond smuggling scheme in Amsterdam, his task is made difficult, when he learns that Roy Slater is on the case.

An outstanding episode, and something of a game changer, this took the Christmas special to a whole new level, not just for OFAH, but shows in general, this must have inspired the likes of One foot in the Grave and Birds of a Feather to push for more.

This has a truly big feel to it, great filming, terrific location work. It is quite something, getting to see Del, Rodney and Uncle Albert running along the streets of Amsterdam is a joy.

Plenty of wonderful moments throughout, Albert finally doing his Captain Birdseye cobblers, Slater's return, and best of all, Denzil seeing Del everywhere.

It's so interesting watching this, and noticing that there isn't a single bit of canned laughter, it makes a huge difference.

How about a Blu-ray release or this one, shot entirely on film, this would look amazing if it were upscaled.

Great to see Jim Broadband back as Slater, and he is wonderful, superb in the part.

Rachel Bell appears as the waitress in the transport café, she would become very well known a year later in another John Sullivan comedy, Dear John, asking 'were there any sexual problems?'

Ajax!!!

10/10.