Only Fools and Horses Interview with Sue Holderness

In March 2013, our podcast team met up with the lovely Sue Holderness, better known to us all as “Marlene” from Only Fools and Horses.

Here’s our interview with Sue, where she tells us about her experiences on the show, why it’s so fondly remembered, and whether or not Del will be returning to our screens.

Will there ever be another series?

We asked Sue for her thoughts on whether we can expect to ever see more from Del, Rodney, Boycie and Marlene. He’s what she had to say:

“I’ve met up with David Jason a few times recently at various dos, and we always think it would be very nice to work together again. This is the tragedy… it was rumoured that there would be one last episode, a Christmas special, where they would get us all back together. Boycie and Marlene would come up back from the country and there would be a Christmas special reuniting everybody, but the tragedy was in the April two years ago, John Sullivan, a apparently completely healthy 64-year-old, suddenly succumbed to viral pneumonia, and it’s a great tragedy for his family, but it’s a great tragedy for the nation too because I do think there’s nobody like him. It’s still very hard to believe he’s not with us.”

“We carried on genuinely thinking that more episodes could happen because John Sullivan always said he could write Only Fools and Horses until he died, he had enough stories to keep on going forever. Well, he died too soon, and it’s a great tragedy for us all. So there won’t be any more. I can absolutely guarantee there won’t be any more, because nobody would have the heart to try to attempt it without him.”

The Test of Time

Fools and Horses started back in 1981 and over thirty years on, is probably the UK’s most loved comedy. Sue explains why the series is still so popular:

“They do stand the test of time I think. People occasionally grumble about the about shows being repeated again and again, but they wouldn’t be repeated if people didn’t watch them. And I’ve had so many people say to me that bad things have happened in their lives, people have got sick, they’re Particularly tired or upset for something that’s happened at work, and Only Fools and Horses is what people put on to cheer themselves up. They say they say laughter is the best medicine, and so I think that John Sullivan has probably saved the nation a great deal of money. Long may they continue to repeat them”

Thanks very much to Sue Holderness for talking to our podcast team, and long man the series continue to entertain the nation.