Only Fools and Horses (1981)

Name: Only Fools and Horses
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 9
Cast: David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Buster Merryfield, Gwyneth Strong, Tessa Peake-Jones

Comedy

Only Fools and Horses.... Is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally transmitted on BBC One from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until 2003. In working-class Peckham in south-east London, ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and his younger half-brother Rodney, explore their highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Initially not an immediate hit and receiving little promotion early on, it later achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the series finale) holds the record for the biggest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers. The series bears a significant influence on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language.

IMDb rating: 9.0 (66,961 votes)
Episode average: 8.3 -0.7 vs IMDb
Seasons: 9
Language: EN
Type: TV series

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 9 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1981)

7.69 avg 7 episodes 7.6 → 7.5 31 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Big Brother	7.6	1,076
2	Go West Young Man	8.1	944
3	Cash and Curry	7.9	900
4	The Second Time Around	7.6	842
5	A Slow Bus to Chingford	7.4	812
6	The Russians Are Coming	7.7	849
7	Christmas Crackers	7.5	764

Season 2 (1982)

8.16 avg 8 episodes 8.0 → 7.5 29 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Long Legs of the Law	8.0	784
2	Ashes to Ashes	8.0	745
3	A Losing Streak	8.8	896
4	No Greater Love....	7.9	739
5	The Yellow Peril	8.3	761
6	It Never Rains....	7.9	738
7	A Touch of Glass	8.9	916
8	Diamonds Are for Heather	7.5	690

Season 3 (1983)

8.20 avg 8 episodes 8.0 → 8.0 29 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Homesick	8.0	712
2	Healthy Competition	8.3	707
3	Friday the 14th	8.7	892
4	Yesterday Never Comes	7.8	697
5	May the Force Be with You	8.6	757
6	Wanted	7.8	693
7	Who's a Pretty Boy?	8.4	724
8	Thicker Than Water	8.0	680

Season 4 (1985)

8.21 avg 8 episodes 8.2 → 9.0 37 min avg

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Happy Returns	8.2	715
2	Strained Relations	8.5	761
3	Hole in One	8.1	677
4	It's Only Rock and Roll	7.9	722
5	Sleeping Dogs Lie	8.2	674
6	Watching the Girls Go By	7.7	646
7	As One Door Closes	8.1	645
8	To Hull and Back	9.0	1,080

Season 5 (1986)

8.04 avg 8 episodes 8.1 → 8.4 39 min avg

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	From Prussia with Love	8.1	686
2	The Miracle of Peckham	8.0	658
3	The Longest Night	8.5	753
4	Tea for Three	8.8	786
5	Video Nasty	7.6	653
6	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	7.9	666
7	A Royal Flush	7.0	848
8	The Frog's Legacy	8.4	727

Season 6 (1988)

9.03 avg 8 episodes 8.9 → 9.6 58 min avg

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
0	Dates	8.9	827
1	Yuppy Love	9.2	927
2	Danger UXD	9.1	866
3	Chain Gang	9.2	900
4	The Unlucky Winner Is...	9.1	912
5	Sickness & Wealth	8.2	724
6	Little Problems	8.9	793
7	The Jolly Boys' Outing	9.6	1,754

Season 7 (1990)

8.33 avg 11 episodes 8.1 → 8.1 60 min avg

Mid-peak

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
0	Rodney Come Home	8.1	673
1	The Sky's the Limit	8.2	637
2	The Chance of a Lunchtime	8.0	602
3	Stage Fright	8.9	765
4	The Class of '62	8.7	670
5	He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle	8.1	613
6	Three Men, a Woman, and a Baby	8.7	669
7	Miami Twice: The American Dream	8.2	743
8	Miami Twice	8.2	918
9	Mother Nature's Son	8.4	704
10	Fatal Extraction	8.1	670