The critically acclaimed touring production of hit West End musical Only Fools And Horses stops off in The Potteries this month. Based on John Sullivan’s iconic 1980s TV series, the stage version is co-written by comedy legend Paul Whitehouse and John’s son, Jim. Here, the duo chat about the origins of the stage show, using nostalgia as social commentary, and working with the late, great Chas Hodges of Chas & Dave fame...

As writers of the stage musical version of hit BBC sitcom Only Fools And Horses, Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan have taken Jim’s dad John’s 64 television adventures with Del and Rodney Trotter and blended them into one critically acclaimed night out at the theatre. 
Paul’s CV more than prepared him to co-write the musical. He’s been entertaining the nation for decades via his arsenal of impeccable character creations, gracing our TV screens in frequent comedy collaborations with Harry Enfield and making hugely memorable contributions to award-winning series such as The Fast Show.
Joining Paul in the writing hotseat is Jim Sullivan. Since the death of his father, Only Fools’ creator John, Jim has been looking after the world of the Trotters both on-screen (via two much-loved spin-off series) and in print (via bestselling books). 

Jim, rumours of a musical based on Only Fools were circulating for years before it opened in the West End. Did you start from scratch when you began your collaboration, or is any of the musical based upon earlier developments?
Jim: My dad had been toying with the possibility of bringing it to the stage but sadly never got to fully commit to it. When we began developing the idea back in 2015, the first thing I did was to search my dad’s notes. I discovered snippets of thoughts and ideas he’d scribbled down, and I knew from talking with him that he wanted to focus on the Dates episode (his personal favourite), where Del and Raquel first met. I also found a two-page opening scene, which our staging is based on. 
About six months later, I was helping my mum clear out the garage when I came across an old audio cassette tape with the words ‘This Time Next Year’ written on it. We played the tape, and there was Chas & Dave (as Del and Rodney) singing “We’re gonna be alright, the good times are on their way!” Mum recalled that back in the late 1990s, dad had gone to Chas’ studio to work on a song, and this was obviously the result. So we had the beginning of an opening scene, and what I felt would make a great and uplifting final song. This was around the time that Paul came on board, and it really took off from there.

Paul, how did you become involved with co-writing the musical?
Paul: I was asked to write and adapt it, and had worked with CJ [Caroline Jay Ranger, the director] and the production team on the Legends tour with Harry Enfield. She’d enjoyed working with me and thought I had the wherewithal to do it. I didn’t, as I’d never written a musical before - so it was a gradual process. 
I met Jim, and I was very conscious of how precious the legacy was to him and his family - and for me, too, as someone who loved the series. But the fact that Chas Hodges and John Sullivan had already written a song together for it struck me as a positive element. It was amazing to see the musical so well received during its four years in the West End. I’m made up that it’s out on the road and audiences all over the UK get the chance to see it.

Only Fools is such a cherished series. Was it a little daunting to take on characters and events that generations of viewers knew so well? Did you feel that there were some things you could have artistic license with but others not?
Jim: In this case, it was an especially tricky challenge. When my dad wrote the first series back in 1981, he wasn’t sure it would get a second series. When he wrote the second series, it looked as though there wouldn’t be a third. When he wrote the final episode in 2003, there were, all told, 64 episodes - approximately 44 hours of viewing material. The story of the Trotters of Peckham spanned two decades and included births, deaths and marriages. Our job was to boil that down into a single two-hour story... with songs! Obviously we couldn’t include everything, and while we’ve tried to remain faithful to the original scripts, we’ve also used a bit of creative license with the timeline. Ultimately, we’re not trying to reinvent the series but rather to pay homage to it. What we’ve ended up with is something that captures and celebrates the heart and spirit of what the series was all about.

Is the decision to set the story at a particular point in the character’s lives key to the plot? Was it ever tempting to go back to the beginning of the series?
Jim: I followed my dad’s cue here. The series and the characters developed over the decades, and it was important to include all the key characters at key moments. We were focusing on the Dates episode, by which time a lot was changing in the lives of the Trotters. This timing also helped to inspire other ideas.
Paul: I thought that we shouldn’t just revisit Only Fools And Horses. It might sound a bit pretentious, but I thought one of the unsung stars of the show was London itself. I came up with the idea for a song called ‘Where Have All The Cockneys Gone?’ It was a phrase I’d heard around, and it struck me as something that Grandad could empathise with and give voice to. The late 80s was a time when London was developing and the gentrification of the yuppies was beginning, and I wanted to make a point about how much has changed.
I also had the idea that Trigger could look into the future in his granny’s crystal ball and see the London we live in now. Seeing artisan bakers and vintage clothiers, it will hit home with people how much has changed. Obviously with musical theatre you can do some very creative things like that, and the audience goes with it. And you can make a point in song. It’s been a lovely exercise, even if it’s resulted in a few sleepless nights!
So those two things in a weird way are nothing to do with the TV series but are to do with London and Peckham, and almost made me think: right I could bring something to it, rather than just reimagining the TV series. It’s using nostalgia as social commentary, having a little look at London, and Only Fools gives you the opportunity.

The television series features a very rich array of secondary characters. How much of a challenge was it to find enough stage time to do them all justice in the musical?
Jim: That was another big challenge. Again, we couldn’t include everyone, but we’ve tried to give all the main characters a fair shout.
Paul, do you think that any of your previous work was ever inspired by Only Fools? There seems to be a bit of a gentle Lennard Pearce/Grandad quality to The Fast Show’s Archie the pub bore and Unlucky Alf, for example.
Paul: This is something that has never ever crossed my mind, but I think certainly in the look and demeanour of Unlucky Alf there are similarities, aren’t there? The voice of Archie is slimier, but he was actually based on a guy from my fishing club called Archie! Looking back, you could say that Loadsamoney was not far off Del Boy - that whole larger-than-life, in-your-face character - although he was a lot more boorish than Del.

Jim, as a writer experienced with creating comedy for the screen, did you find it a little restrictive not having the luxury of writing exterior VT scenes - as often seen in the series - to expand the canvas of the story?
Jim: Yes and no. This whole experience has been a big learning curve for me. To begin with, you’re thinking like a television camera, which can pick up small and subtle things - something that theatre doesn’t afford you. The upside to that is that it forces you to rethink and be more imaginative.
Paul, back in the 90s, you would have been filming at Television Centre at the same time as Only Fools. Did you ever cross paths with John, David, Nick and the gang?
Paul: I never did meet John, but I met David and Nick at a couple of BBC do’s, and they were both lovely. Because The Fast Show was really at its height when I met them and they really liked it, they were doing my characters back to me! 

As far as casting Del and Rodney was concerned, was it a case of auditioning Sam Lupton and Tom Major together, to see if they had the right kind of chemistry? 
Jim: They are both demanding roles to play, notwithstanding the fact that they’ve already been played so well before. We had many auditions and it wasn’t easy, but Sam and Tom were, and are, fantastic! All the cast have been amazing, and it’s been a genuine privilege to work with them.
Was it tricky to weave the songs into the traditional Only Fools scripted sequences?
Jim: To begin with, yes. But it’s all been very organic. We focused on the beats of the story first, and the songs came out of that.

What was the process like in terms of writing songs for the musical with the late Chas Hodges?
Paul: I’d never met Chas before, but weirdly I got on really well with him. Because of his work, he was one of those blokes you felt you’d known for ages. I knew he was a fan of my stuff, we had fishing in common, and along with Dave Peacock, we were from the same area, so we had a strong connection.
Finally, can we expect to see the old man of the sea and ancient mariner himself, Uncle Albert, make an appearance in the musical?!
Paul: Well, you never know. Uncle Albert might pop up in the show when things get tricky!

Only Fools And Horses The Musical shows at the Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent from Monday 2 to Saturday 7 December