How classic Only Fools and Horses sex dolls episode was almost axed over censorship – Mirror Online

A classic Only Fools And Horses episode was saved from being axed by eagle-eyed members of the costume department.

One of the most memorable moments in the BBC comedy was when Del Boy, played by Sir David Jason, and Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) came face-to-face with a number of blow up sex dolls, which they then tried to flog on with hilarious consequences.

Writer John Sullivan, who died in 2011, had previously revealed how the episode's details had to be kept secret from BBC bosses because he felt sure they would not even film it, let alone air the episode.

Then, during filming, there was a last-minute save by the costume department who stepped in to make the dolls more family friendly after realising they did not look suitable for pre-watershed viewing.

A new documentary, Channel 5's We Love Only Fools And Horses, has revealed details of what happened to ensure the 1989 episode reached our screens.

The comedys art director Alison Rickman reveals in the new documentary: That whole episode was kept hush-hush because they were very frightened of being censored and then being told they couldnt do it.

Most blow-up dolls have an open mouth.

"But we couldnt show that, so somebody altered the faces to make them more suitable for television because we knew we wouldnt be able to broadcast it, and we wanted to do the gag which involved the dolls and them being inflated.

That was an important for part of the whole story.

The episode, called Danger UXD, sees Del come about some knock-off dolls and he thinks he could offload them for a healthy profit.

As with most of his schemes, the market trader came a cropper as he didn't realise that the dolls were filled with toxic gas.

In trying to sneak them out of the flat, De and Rodney dressed the dolls in their late mother's clothes, with the dolls being named Pepsi and Shirlie, after the backing singers for George Michael fronted 80s pop act Wham!

This turned out to be one of Shirlie Kemp's life highlights, as she explained in the documentary that she had more attention from that than she did singing with Wham!

She said: "My house phone did not stop ringing.

"I had so many people telling me Youre on Only Fools And Horses. I had more calls than when I had a hit record.

In a funny way I felt really proud that I was on Only Fools And Horses even if I was a blow-up doll.

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How classic Only Fools and Horses sex dolls episode was almost axed over censorship - Mirror Online