Only Fools & Horses

Audience
After a relatively slow start the show went on to achieve consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time On Our Hands" holds the record for the highest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers (over a third of the population). Critically and popularly acclaimed, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll. It also had an impact on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language and boosting the popularity of the Reliant Regal van. became one of the UK's most popular sit-coms. It was among the ten most-watched television shows of the year in the UK in 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The 1996 Christmas trilogy of "Heroes and Villains", "Modern Men" and "Time On Our Hands" saw the show's peak. The first two attracted 21.3 million viewers, while the third episode – at the time believed to be the final one – got 24.3 million, a record audience for a British sit-com. Repeat episodes also attract millions of viewers, and the BBC has received criticism for repeating the show too often. Del Boy was voted the most popular British television character of all time in a survey by ‘Open...’. and came fourth in a Channel 4 list of Britain's best-loved television characters. A Onepoll survey found that Only Fools and Horses was the television series Britons would most like to see return. The show regularly features in polls to find the most popular comedy series, moments and characters. Having two characters, Rodney and Del Boy, also invites a wider audience to watch the sit com. Because they're quite contrasting characters the audience can also be more varied as there is something in each character that attracts different audience members.

Instiution
Only Fools and Horses was written and created by John Sullivan. It ran for seven series, meaning sixty three episodes. John Sullivan grew up in Balham, South London. He failed his eleven-plus and left school at 15 with no qualifications; he’s from a working-class background. Much of Sullivan's material for Only Fools and Horses scripts came from his real-life experiences: falling through a raised bar flap, the chandelier falling, his father's poker sessions, his niece working in the police force, and his grandfather falling down holes to claim money. It is arguable that the economic insecurity experienced by the Trotter family, and their eventual rise to wealth is based on Sullivan's own personal background, who grew up in a poor household and noted in an interview that he and his friends seemingly had no other opportunities after leaving school apart from low-paid factory work. The success of Only Fools and Horses, however, made him rich.
Sullivan also created a spin-off series called “Green Green Grass” and a prequel to Only Fools called “Rock & Chips.
Overnight figures estimated Rock & Chips was seen by 7.4 million viewers with a 28% audience share, winning the slot against ITV1's Wild at Heart and the Dancing on Ice results show. It was the second most-watched programme of the day, behind the first Dancing on Ice programme of the evening.

Representation

· Set on a council estate in Peckham (Nelson Mandela Flats)
· Working Class Family
· “Dodgy” dealings, Del sells knock of goods
· Both Del and Rodney aspire to better themselves (class mobility) however Rodney remains moral when trying to do so. For example he attends a computer course whereas Del sells stolen , knock off goods. Del wants to be a social climber but never quite gets there.
· Slang
· Incorrect use of French language, eg. “Mange tout” and “Bonjour” to say goodbye. Establishes the genre as comedy. The french langauge is seen as a superior language used by upper/middle class citizens so by Del attempting to use french, highlights his aspiration to be middle class.
· Tacky gold jewellery – what Del considers middle class, wearing lots of jewellery, is in actual fact the opposite because it’s fake.
· They don’t pay tax
· Despite their immoral doings, due to the comedy elements, we like the characters, we warm to them. (Full Monty)
· Tacky, clashing décor. Bar in living room. Just seeing the flat establishes the working class family living there.

Media Theory

Marxist Theory : "The class, which is the dominant material force in society, is at the same time its dominant intellectual force"
"According to Marx, the capitalist class- the burgeoisie- control the 'production and distributive of ideas' because of their control of the 'means of material production'.
This does not apply to John Sullivan as he grew up from a working class background, and left school with no qualifications.