Review: Only Fools and Horses The Musical

Tuesday, 25th February 2025 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

From the pens of Paul Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan comes the musicalised stage version of classic sitcom Only Fools and Horses: wise-crackingly, eyebrow-liftingly and elbow-nudgingly nostalgic and entertaining, but not necessarily a cracking musical.

Caroline Jay Ranger directs, and it’s a likeable cast at the heart of this show, so we’re off to a strong start. The all-important central trio are beautifully cast and carry the distinct cockney charm of Del Boy (Sam Lupton), Rodney (Tom Major) and Grandad (Paul Whitehouse) with plenty of wit and strong comedic pace. Whitehouse steals scenes with ease and Major certainly endears as the dippy brother, but Lupton in particular is a real gem, and somehow manages to blur the boundaries between the iconic screen performance and this affectionately echoed performance.

Peter Watts and Darryl Paul provide great comic highlights as the archetypal growling villains – the Driscoll brothers are not to be messssssed wiv, fo’ shuwa – and Watts in particular delivers some brilliant voice work. Meanwhile, Georgina Hagen brings some straight-faced emotion and key sense of plot as Raquel, Lee VG is all loud density as Trigger and Nicola Munns stands out for a great caricature performance as Marlene.

A lot of the comedy is of course clever word play and gloriously indulgent malapropisms which make the most of having such an iconic accent at the heart of a huge show like this. Physical gags are fewer but well landed and generous in recreating iconic moments – and Leo Flint’s animations provide yet more tongue-in-cheek silliness at key moments.

With all that said, the awkward truth of it all is that this is an enjoyable comedy show, full of affectionate nods to the original cast and episodes, but it feels odd as a musical and the songs don’t really linger. I’d say around three of the 17 show-specific songs are truly entertaining (“Bit of a Sort”, “Being a Villain”, “Gaze into My Ball”), often for that cockney flair.

But despite the noble efforts of a vocally talented cast, there’s not much in the way of memorable crackers and often the placement feels off, particularly in the case of Trigger’s random ditty and a brilliant performance from Gloria Acqaah-Harrison of “Holding Back the Years” which stands alone in style and quality but has somehow been judged most fitting to take place while poor Del is being beaten to a pulp… I guess anything goes in the land of Del Boy?

Ultimately, if you’re a fan of the TV series, you may want to ‘av a butchers based purely on the performances and the comedy here, but it would not be safe as ‘ouses to say this one sells itself specifically as a great musical…

Only Fools and Horses is at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House until March 1st 2025 – more information and tickets can be found here.