Only Fools and Horses DVDs have been sold in Regions 1, 2 and 4. Only Fools and Horses started in 1981 and ended in 2003.
64 episodes were broadcast in total. Six shorts were made, four of which were broadcast commercially but none of them have been released on official DVDs.
This is a rough guide to the various cuts made to episodes of Only Fools And Horses released on DVD in the UK.
Most cuts date back to the initial VHS releases starting in the early 1990s and were often made due to licencing issues of the music played in the background. Licensing was done separately for broadcast and then, often at a much later date, home video. This meant that sometimes the music granted for use in the broadcast was later refused for use in the home video release.
Some of the edits were made subtlely by replacing music, but some were made by removing entire conversations or even scenes. These edited versions are still the only versions available on DVD today.
In the late 2000s, changes in UK music licensing arrangements (also known as 'blanket licensing' deals) meant that music previously replaced for BBC DVD releases (such as the initial release of Doctor Who - Remembrance of the Daleks) could now be reinstated as originally broadcast. However, the BBC would first have to re-submit the episodes to the BBFC to be classified, so effectively although the law has changed, the BBC would still have to formally re-release any relevant episode, and could not simply quietly substitute the already existing DVDs on the shop shelves.
The currently available range of Only Fools And Horses DVDs often carry disclaimers such as on the reverse of The Complete Collection which states, 'For contractual reasons certain edits have been made.' Similar disclaimers can be seen on the reverse of To Hull and Back, Mother Nature's Son, Fatal Extraction and Heroes And Villains. However, there is sometimes no disclaimer where the DVD is known to have been edited.
Some minor edits have been noticed over the years, that differ from the original broadcast such as those in 'It's Only Rock And Roll' and 'Tea For Three'. Particularly with early series, it is possible that some episodes over-ran thirty minutes and were subsequently edited down on repeats to keep within the stringent 30 minute timeslot that modern TV scheduling requires.
Some of the most noticeable cuts are detailed below.
Series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Specials: 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1996 1 | 1996 2 | 1996 3 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | Story of... |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 1 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
20 November 2000 | 3 May 2004 | 7 October 2003 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 2 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
2 April 2001 | 3 May 2004 | 7 October 2003 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 3 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
4 June 2001 | 6 May 2005 | 7 October 2003 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 4 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
The following dialogue has been cut because of music.
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
1 October 2001 | 6 May 2005 | 12 October 2004 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 5 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
Music cut: "I who have nothing" by Joan Baxter and following dialogue.[1] Dialogue Cut: Various bits of dialogue have been cut when Del, Rodney and Lisa are sitting at the pub table and the flat table.
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
30 September 2002 | 4 August 2005 | 12 October 2004 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 6 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
Several cuts because of music[2]
This cut leads to the scene at the Disco cutting in awkwardly from the opening long shot to Jevons line "And tonights lucky winner is, that chick sitting at the corner table." indicating Cassandra and her friend. After Rodney and Cassandra Say Hello their next exchange is cut:
Two music tracks are cut but its unknown what they are. "Love Goes Up and Down" by Errol Brown is not cut it plays over the whole scene of Mickey, Jevon and Rodney attempting to get Cassandra and her friend Emma to dance. On the original broadcast version, Simply Red's 'It's Only Love' is playing in the background of the Nag's Head in the scene where Rodney and Albert are discussing their concerns for Del's health with Cassandra. In the DVD and video versions, this song has been removed, and no music plays, removing some of the emotion of the scene. |
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
22 September 2003 | 4 August 2005 | 11 October 2005 |
Only Fools and Horses: Series 7 |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
Music ‘Mighty Quinn’ by Manfred Mann, the scene of Del and co singing along drunkenly to the track has been cut from the complete Series 7 video from 2000 but can be seen/heard on the earlier 1993 ‘Danger UXD’ video, so it is obvious that the BBC had the rights earlier but the record company has since withdrawn them. Music O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff is replaced when Damien looks at Rodney for the first time. The replacement is noticeable as it covers the audience laughter. |
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
6 September 2004 | 4 May 2006 | 10 October 2006 |
Only Fools and Horses: To Hull and Back |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
12 November 2001 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: A Royal Flush (The 2004 Version) |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
For the UK DVD release the episode was heavily re-edited (including at least 18 minutes of cuts). An audience laughter track was also added. The back of the DVD release refers to this version as 'The 2004 Version'.
The reasons for this alternative edit were because of John Sullivan's dissatisfaction with the finished version as originally broadcast. The final transmitted episode was hastily edited, as it was being prepared for transmission on Christmas Day 1986 and there was not enough time to run the episode in front of a live studio audience. Also, Sullivan has stated that he felt in the scene where Del is drunk at dinner, he came across as too nasty. The original 1998 UK video release did not contain an added laughter track and more accurately reflected the running time of the original 1986 broadcast version.
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
9 May 2005 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: The Frog's Legacy |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
20 November 2000 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Dates |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
6 May 2002 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boys' Outing |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
6 November 2000 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Rodney Come Home |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
6 November 2000 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Miami Twice - The Movie (aka The 1998 Version) |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
For the 1998 video release, the two episodes were edited together as one continuous episode, and a laughter track was added to the second part for consistency. This resulted in the removal of the end credits sequence of Part 1, and the omission of the beginning credits of Part 2 (which originally appeared over the "Summer In The City" track). The final credits were also amended to reflect the cast and crew for both parts. This 1998 Version was also the version released on DVD. The original 1991 'movie' version of Oh To Be In England without a laughter track has never been commercially released on home video or DVD, although it has been repeated in broadcasts.
Closing shot where Del and Rodney enter plane has been cut from the 1998 video release.
Soundtrack music track ‘Rockin’ All over the World’ by Status Quo replaced by 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' by Tears For Fears at the start of the episode where Del and Rodney are on the plane. Most dialogue is intact apart from a brief section when Del removes his headphones. On the broadcast, he says, 'Oh'. On the DVD, the sound of him laughing at the start of the scene is noticeably repeated in its place. Del and Rodney meet the Mafia at the nightclub and the following lines are cut. ('Killer' by Adamski featuring Seal is on the original soundtrack at this point, but this does not seem to be why the cut has been made as other music tracks in this episode have simply been replaced. It is possible that the track was actually being played at the time of filming, and so the dialogue could not be isolated. This track continued originally over the next scene of Lurch breaking into Del and Rodney's camper van.) |
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
19 May 2003 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Mother Nature's Son |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
24 May 2004 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Fatal Extraction |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
12 July 2004 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Heroes and Villains |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
9 February 2004 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Modern Men |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
9 February 2004 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Time On Our Hands |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
9 February 2004 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: If They Could See Us Now |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
11 November 2002 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Strangers on the Shore |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
17 November 2003 | — | — |
Only Fools and Horses: Sleepless in Peckham |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
4 October 2004 | — | — |
The Story of Only Fools and Horses |
||||
Set Details | DVD Cuts | |||
|
|
|||
Release Dates | ||||
United Kingdom | Australia | United States | ||
7 April 2003 | — | — |
Three compilation DVDs were issued in 2004:
Only Fools and Horses: All The Best Volume 1
Only Fools and Horses: All The Best Volume 2
Only Fools and Horses: All The Best Volume 3
Along with series 1-4 being released on iTunes (minus their Christmas specials), the following collections were also released. Some featured material that had previously been cut for VHS/DVD:
The Best Of Only Fools And Horses
The Best Of Christmas Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses: Classic Del Boy Episodes
Only Fools and Horses: Classic Rodney Episodes
|