Lost 'Only Fools and Horses' episode to finally air 33 years after being recorded
It's never been seen on TV before
If you fancy yourself as a big Only Fools and Horses fan, you may well think you’ve seen every episode of the BBC comedy.
Until this week, you probably could have said as much with confidence and – to the best of your knowledge – been absolutely right.
However, there’s probably one episode you haven’t seen, unless you were at a particular school at a particular time.
That could soon change, though, with ‘lost’ episode ‘Licensed to Drill’ poised to get its first ever airing on commercial television.
Halfway between episode and infomercial, ‘Licensed to Drill’ was the last episode to feature the acting talents of Lennard Pearce, who played Grandad from 1981 until his death in 1984.
Originally shown in schools and colleges, it is the longest ‘special episode’ of the show at 27 minutes, and was produced by the Maureen Oilfield Consortium.
It features Del Boy, Rodney and Grandad discussing fossil fuels and oil rigs, and while it was a special episode it still features the trademark writing of John Sullivan.
‘Licensed to Drill’ is one of two episodes to never air commercially in the UK, along with ‘The Robin Flies at Dawn’ – recorded specifically for the armed forces – but will finally make it to our screens as part of UKTV Gold’s The Story of Only Fools and Horses special.
The six-part documentary is currently partway through its run, with ‘Licensed to Drill’ due to feature during the final episode on 3 October. Set your alarms.
(Main image: UKTV Gold)
