'Only Fools and Horses' 40th anniversary celebrated with Royal Mail stamps

Royal Mail have unveiled a set of stamps dedicated to Only Fools and Horses to mark the iconic show's 40th anniversary.

John Sullivan's beloved comedy launched in 1981, introducing wide boy Del Boy (David Jason) and his inept brother Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) to viewers. While it got off to a slow start, it went on to become one of Britain's most-loved sitcoms.

The Royal Mail are paying tribute to its array of characters and iconic catchphrases in 12 new stamps in honour of the occasion.

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Eight feature classic scenes and one-liners while a further four depict the main members of the Trotter family as individual stamps along with a catchphrase. Grandad (Lennard Pearce) and Uncle Albert (Buster Merryfield) are set alongside Rodney and Del Boy, who's stamp reads: "This time next year, we’ll be millionaires!”

The famous scenes included in the stamps include Del Boy's fall through the bar and the brothers' chandelier incident.

The stamps will be on sale from 16 February while the full set will be made available in a presentation pack from the Royal Mail's website.

Royal Mail stamp strategy manager Philip Parker said: “The superb writing, comic one liners and the warmth and idiosyncrasies of its characters made Only Fools and Horses one of the most loved TV comedies of all time.

"We celebrate 40 years of the Trotters’ wheeling and dealing, with new stamps revisiting some of the show’s classic moments."

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The show's seventh and final regular series aired in 1991 and was followed up by sporadic Christmas specials until it came to an end in 2003.

Sullivan died in 2011 at the age of 64, with Lyndhurst ruling out a revival in 2019 on account of the writer’s death and the passing of other cast members.

With additional reporting by PA.

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