26 Responses to “Time on our Hands”

  1. Rob M says:

    We sadly lost Michael Jayston 2 days ago on: Monday 5th February 2024, he played Raquel’s dad, James, in this episode ‘time on our hands’. He passed away after battling a short illness.

    RIP Michael, you will never be forgotten.

  2. Rich says:

    In reality I wonder how much Del and Rodney would’ve ended up with after Sotheby’s took their percentage?

  3. Monkey Harris says:

    It’s interesting how the value of money has changed so much in what seems like a short time.

    Today, £6.2 million split two ways wouldn’t get anywhere near the properties and lifestyle the Trotters have once they become rich!

  4. DarkRaver says:

    Dear and respected OFAH.NET,

    Your posts about locations of the great show are preiceless and please keep up the good work and be kind and let me know if you are aware of THE REAL LOCATION of the part when Uncle Albert sails in a Khadia boat right infront of the Cassandra and Rodney’s new flat?

    Thank you very much, wish you all the best

  5. James Davis says:

    I have just binge watched the entire OFAH series from Big Brother all the way to Time on our Hands over the past few weeks, and I loved every minute of it, my favourite TV programme of all time.

    However, I cannot bring myself to watch the final three episodes from 2001-2003, although I did watch them a long time ago and know the storyline. Why? Because when you watch the entire series and see how many ups and downs (mostly the latter) the Trotters had, and how much they dreamed of achieving their ambitions of becoming millionaires, it was heartless to have it all robbed off them five years later. In addition, Del Boy may have had his flaws, but he was a good person who cared so much about his family, and he, his brother and their family deserved the millions and live happily ever after.

    Therefore I consider the final three episodes to be non-canon and the Trotters forever lived happily ever after as millionaires, and not just for the above reasons. Buster Merryfield (Uncle Albert) and Kenneth MacDonald (Mike Fisher) passed away between Time on our Hands and the 2000’s specials. They were an integral part of the series, and it isn’t the same without them, especially Albert’s “during the war” monologues!

    If they were to release susquent specials, they should have been about the Trotters trying and failing (with hilarious results) to mix it with the rich, Del Boy and Raquel getting married and Rodney and Cassandra having their baby Joan (the only good thing about the 2000’s specials). I’m sure a good story could have be made out of it.

    Only Fools and Horses was let down by the 2000’s specials, unless you ignore them like I do, in which case it is a faultless show. Highly recommend!

  6. simong says:

    In Time on Our Hands, where is the building that Del has bought?
    You see him playing snooker and a picture above the fire?
    It looks like Merrist Wood House in Worplesdon near Guildford?

  7. TJ says:

    The sign says PBC not BBC, which I presume stands for Peckham Borough Council

  8. Dave says:

    Our family are split between the ending song in time on our hands where the music I know is our house however the other half believe that there is another song played instead of this in another version is this correct cheers

    • Richard says:

      It’s the same song but sung by someone else :

      “In the VHS and DVD versions, the track “Our House” is replaced by a cover version by Helen Reddy.” – Wiki

      Musts have been copyright issues.

      • adam says:

        Yes the original TV version is sung by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
        As Richard says the later DVD releases have a cover version sung by Helen Reddy.

  9. Matt says:

    When they walk off into the sunset at the end on yellow brick road, is it a cartoon set?

  10. Griff says:

    I know all outside scenes from 1989 were filmed in Bristol, but does this include the montage of clips filmed when the Trotters became millionaires?

  11. Rob M says:

    This should have been the last episode ever made – it ended perfectly – the nation’s favourite sitcom characters becoming millionaires, finally realizing their dream – plus, it would have also ended with Buster and Kenneth still being alive – everything ended perfect.

    those last 3 episodes made in 2001, were terrible, you got a cold feeling from the cast as if there hearts wernt really in it anymore, Damien was gobby and mouthy and genuinelly unlikeable with no friendly redeeming qualities (yes I know teenagers are supposed to be like that) but there was something really off-putting about Ben Smith.

    If John had finished it in 1996 – and not buckled to the sheer weight of the public wanting only fools back – it would have ended picture perfect in my opinion.

    • Gerry says:

      i agree with everything you say mate-the Damien in 1996 was lovely
      unlike the horrible one that was bought in for 2001 2002 2003
      those episodes were crap, The Jonathan Ross, Gary, Sleepless in P
      were awful. but you cant be too hard on John Sullivan because he must have been under so much pressure to bring it back but a bid surprising considering two cast members had died in that time

  12. Rob M says:

    I’m not 100% sure, and sorry if I’m wrong – however I might have discovered another cut.

    On the video/DVD release of time on their hands, when Rodney and Del are back in the flat (towards the end, when the flat is in darkness) Rodney: ‘shame about Albert’s boat wasn’t it?’

    well… shame about what? nothing bad happened?

    so on TV broadcasts on GOLD – does Albert crash or sink the boat? because on video/DVD releases – nothing happens to Alberts boat, all he does is steer it.

    • Dan says:

      It’s a joke, they’re implying that Albert crashed his boat, There was never a scene of him actually crashing it :)

      not a cut.

    • Ronnie says:

      Im sure in the episode you see a shot of Albert on his boat, and then Rodney and Cassandra watch as you hear a boat crash sound or something like that.

      • Jamie Martin says:

        Albert is on the boat (presumably on the Thames) and Rodney and Cassandra are watching from the balcony new flat. You hear the sound of the horn and see the couple looking embarrassed. There is no crash sound, or crash scene shown.

        Later in the episode the boat crash is alluded to in the conversation between Del and Rodney.

  13. Cushty says:

    Whenever I think of Time On Our Hands I always hum the horn music piece to myself that is played after they become rich.
    You know the tune, it’s the one when they arrive at the Nags Head in the Rolls, you’re humming it now I bet.
    Anyway does anyone know any info about it, if it’s from anywhere or if it was composed just for the episode…

    • Rich says:

      It’s something I’ve always wondered about too. I always imagined that John Sullivan wrote it as we know he was a very accomplished composer writing the theme tunes to Citizen Smith, Just Good Friends, Dear John, Sitting Pretty, The Green Green Grass and of course Only Fools, so by this point he may have also been writing the incidental music too. I also imagined he wrote the background acoustic guitar music in ‘Mother Natures Son’, the bit where they are in the hotel.

  14. Griff says:

    ‘In Time on our Hands, I wonder which Beatle Andy thinks is singing “Our House” at the end of “Time On Our Hands”? The song is by Crosby, Stills and Nash.

    Andy?

  15. Lewis says:

    I think Rodney and Cassadra should have had their baby in Modern Men and not lost it, because then John Sullivan would probably have had less of a reason to bring Only Fools back for the last three episodes. And the same thing with finding out that Del and Rodney had different fathers that should have happened in A Frog’s Legacy.

  16. Bart Simpson says:

    In Mother Natures Son, Uncle Albert scares them again, I want to know if There is any more Uncle Albert scares and if this has meaning.

  17. Leon Blank says:

    In Time on our Hands when the Harrison watch is first realised there is a registration plates that clearly shows the letters “YEP” in a nearby storage bin. A few shots later you can only see “EP” when in fact the angles haven’t changed.

  18. Simon Nash says:

    In Time on our Hands when Del is in the empty flat at the end he answers the phone to his old pal Lenny Norris. Assuming Del is refering to the same man he spoke about in Diamonds are for Heather, he was called Lenny Morris, not Norris.

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