Only Fools and Horses may have stopped airing officially in 1991, but the London-based sitcom remains a fan favourite to this day.
The comedy is widely-regarded as one of the best, with its popularity seeing several Christmas specials for more than a decade later, re-runs of which still delight fans more than 20 years on.
The show made household names out of stars David Jason, who played Derek “Del Boy” Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who starred as Del Boy’s brother, Rodney.
Despite its success, Lyndhurst revealed once that he had almost been “fired” over one of the show’s most iconic scenes.
In a BBC documentary looking back at the classic series in 2021, the actor recalled how a boss had threatened to fire him.
It came during the finale of the second series, called A Touch of Glass, which saw the Trotter brothers facing some trouble whilst trying to clean a chandelier.
Lyndhurst reflected on the iconic scene
Getty/ITV
Fans of the show regard the episode as one of the funniest moments as the two watch on helplessly while the chandelier falls to the ground and smashes.
However, Lyndhurst explained how a showrunner called Ray had given him a stern warning prior to filming the scene, The Mirror reports.
He recalled: “Ray, he was only a little guy but fierce with it, came up to me and said this to me, ‘This chandelier that we are about to drop costs £6,000 and if you laugh when it’s dropped we’ve lost the end scene.
“’If we’ve lost the end scene, we’ve lost the episode. If we’ve lost the episode, we’ve lost the series because the BBC will only transmit six - so if you laugh when that drops I will fire you.’”
Only Fools and Horses aired from 1981 to 1991
Getty
As the duo prepared for the scene, Ray was apparently “looking daggers” at Lyndhurst.
However, it turned out that Ray himself would be the one to burst into laughter following the hilarious moment, with Lyndhurst adding: “About 10 seconds went past and I could see his shoulders going.”
However, he went on to explain Ray had been trying to stifle the laughter, continuing: “I see him out of the corner of my eye, reach into his parker and pull out a handkerchief. He just stuffed the whole thing into his mouth."
After the scene had been shot, the actor said the cast and crew were able to breath a sigh of relief, describing how: “I came down that ladder and the air went blue.”
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Lyndhurst recalled being warned over the classic scene
Getty
More recently, Jason explained how he still lives with one small downside of appearing in the hugely popular series.
The 84-year-old explained: "Del Boy is a character that I can’t avoid. He’s become so ingrained in the public’s mind that where I go, I tend to be recognised and then what happens is that people can’t help but interfere with your private life.”
Speaking to the Daily Star, he went on: “It’s part of the job. It’s part of giving your time and your life to the Great British public, God bless them.”
