I know that the received wisdom is that the first series of Only Fools And Horses was underwhelming from a ratings perpective (even if it’s first episode was the ninth most-watched show on BBC One that week), but it does bear out that it didn’t get much press coverage (as we saw yesterday). That didn’t stop anyone making a Christmas special (Christmas Crackers) in 1981 though, even if it wasn’t heavily pushed.
The following year, Diamonds Are For Heather got an equally lightweight push.
In 1983, the show’s yule special was given the coveted Christmas Day slot. But even then Thicker Than Water barely got a mention outside of the listings pages.
This was also the year in which the main characters appeared on a festive episode of Harty.
Even 1985’s To Hull And Back had very little newspaper fanfare.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the specials that aired between series from 1986-1988.
