Friday 25th August 2017
- New study reveals what happened next for the Trotters...
- Comedy TV channel Gold release research into hit British TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses revealing that Del Boy and Rodney would have struck gold if they had sold their personal and business assets in today's market
- Finance expert Jasmine Birtles investigated the duo's assets to reveal that the pair would be worth over £3 million today
- Their three-bedroom flat in trendy Peckham would be valued at a whopping £850,000, while other assets such as the Ford Capri, three-wheeled 1967 Reliant Regal Supervan III and the garage lock up would fetch up to £55,000 in today's market
- The research was specially commissioned by TV channel Gold to celebrate the channel's 25th birthday and the new retrospective documentaries David Jason: My Life on Screen and The Story of Only Fools and Horses
Britain's most famous TV sitcom wheeler-dealers Del Boy and Rodney would be millionaires in 2017 if they sold their personal and business assets in today's market, new research reveals today.
The study reveals that Del Boy, famous for his optimistic catchphrase "this time next year, we'll be millionaires", along with younger brother Rodney, would be worth over £3 million today, realising their lifelong dream three times over and giving the duo the millionaire lifestyle they always desired.
Research specially commissioned by TV channel Gold to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the channel and a pair of brand new retrospective documentaries David Jason: My Life on Screen and The Story of Only Fools and Horses, reveals that the Only Fools and Horses characters would have made their fortune again by 2017, despite losing a fortune and being declared bankrupt due to bad investments in 2001.
The iconic series ended with the duo gaining and then losing a huge fortune while just managing to keep their flat thanks to a last-minute inheritance from plucky Uncle Albert
Money expert Jasmine Birtles led a team of researchers who totted up the value of all of the known Trotter brothers' remaining assets. Financial boffins delved through 60 episodes of Only Fools and Horses, including all seven series from 1981 to 1991 and the Christmas specials for the research.
Del Boy and Rodney's key assets and worth are revealed by finance experts as:
- Two pure cut and polished blue diamonds (cufflink size) - £1,000,000 each
- The three bed-room flat in Peckham - £850,000
- Del Boy's lock up in Peckham (Trotter's Garage) - £25,000
- Del's classic Ford Capri - £25,000
- The three-wheeled 1967 Reliant Regal Supervan III - £5,000
- Del's Gold 'D' 9 carat necklace - £469
- Grandad's silver cigarette case from the Zulu War - £150
- Del's 1981 Casio wrist watch - £150
- Uncle Albert's service medals 'Star of Italy and 'Atlantic Star' - £57
- Inheritance of £145,000 each (£290k) - inland revenue bill of £48,754 - £241,246
TOTAL: £3,097,069
The Trotter brothers' three-bedroom flat in Peckham would be valued at £850,000, as the area has become one of London's trendiest and most desirable places to live. Assets such as the Ford Capri, three-wheeled 1967 Reliant Regal Supervan III and the garage lock up would fetch up to £55,000 in today's market.
Episode 'To Hull and Back' also revealed the duo to be in possession of two absolutely clean, cut blue diamonds, following the pair smuggling thirty diamonds from Amsterdam to Hull, England. While the brothers were arrested by the police, Del's foresight of swapping his cat's eye cufflinks for the diamonds saw them scupper off with the two rare stones.
An expert from the luxury and prestigious jewellery store Asprey's revealed that in today's market the diamonds be worth at least a whopping £2 million in total - exposing that the twosome were millionaires all along.
Finance guru Birtles who led the TV channel Gold study said:
If you look at all the accumulated assets Del Boy and Rodney had over the seven series of Only Fools and Horses they would be millionaires today and living the luxury lifestyle they always aspired to.
"A three-bedroom flat in Peckham would be worth a fortune in today's market, as the area is fast becoming one of London's most desirable neighbourhoods. Their other assets such as the lock up, the three-wheeled van and Ford Capri would all fetch a tasty figure if put up for sale."
"The most astonishing finding from the research has to be the discovery of the two blue diamonds owned by Del Boy, which would be worth at least £1 million apiece if put up for auction today."
The findings suggest that the duo would have lived happily ever after despite the bankruptcy which followed shortly after they become Millionaires by auctioning a pocket watch at Sotheby's for £6.2 million (in the 1996 episode 'Time on Our Hands').
The new study also surveyed 2,000 Brits to reveal which of the duo's hare-brained money-making schemes would have actually been viable business ventures.
Over a third of (38%) Brits voted the Trotter brothers' 'Peckham Spring Water' as the number one business idea, clearly seeing Del Boy's ability to predict the boom of the health food industry and tapping into the current trend of consumers buying locally sourced food and drink.
Of those surveyed, the majority (34%) said that 'Peckham Spring Water' was the business idea that would most likely make the Trotter brothers millionaires in 2017.
'Trotter's Canine Welfare and Pop-Up Telescopic Christmas Trees' business could have also been a flier in today's fast paced and time poor society according to three in ten Brits (34/30%).
Celebrating the channel's 25th birthday, Gold general manager Steve North said,
Del Boy always dreamed of being a millionaire and our research reveals that in today's market his personal and business assets would have made him a mint.
"We delved into one of Britain's best loved shows to reveal some hidden gems about the Trotter brothers ahead of launching two new retrospective documentaries on Gold featuring Sir David Jason. The new shows, David Jason: My Life on Screen and The Story of Only Fools and Horses, tell the story of Sir David's career and feature rare and unseen footage from the Trotter archives."
"Although Peckham Spring Water was a complete con, Brits clearly think this was actually a genius idea to generate some decent dollar, with Del Boy spotting a gap in the growing health foods industry and tapping into the fashionable consumer market of purchasing locally sourced food and drink"
Del Boys and Rodney's Top Ten Business Ideas - as voted for by Brits are revealed as:
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Peckham Spring Water (38%) - Del Boy And Rodney sell bottled tap water as locally sourced 'Peckham Spring' water (Series 7 Mother Nature's Son 1992)
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Trotter's Canine Welfare (34%) - Del Boy persuades friends to let him care for their Great Dane puppy while they are away on holiday. He decides to embark on a business venture of looking after dogs when their owners are away (Series 4 Sleeping Dogs Lie 1985)
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Pop-up Telescopic Christmas Trees (30%) - The duo came up with the idea of selling pop-up Christmas Trees which come already decorated. Del Boy describes the festive trees as 'advanced micro chip Christmas trees as advertised on Tomorrow's World' (The Funny Side Of Christmas - Christmas Special, Christmas Trees 1982)
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Seafood Stall 'Eels On Wheels' (25%) - Del Boy and Rodney dream of a seafood stall which provided meals on wheels, where every pub in London would have a seafood stall on wheels outside (Series 6 The Jolly Boys' Outing 1989)
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Festive Pine Candles (21%) - Del Boy and Rodney's business idea of selling festive pine candles. Get the smell of real Norwegian pine without the trouble and cost of a pine tree. In fact the brothers are really selling a consignment of 'church' pillar candles sprayed with 'pine' air freshener, with 'stars' of gold glitter stencilled and glued around them (Christmas Trilogy, Heroes And Villains 1996)
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Chandelier Cleaning Business (19%) - The Trotter brothers offer a chandelier cleaning and restoration business, to stately home owners (Series 2 A Touch Of Glass 1982)
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Trotter's Ethnic Tours (16%) - Del Boy and Rodney plan to take tourists around the wonders of London, including Lee Valley viaduct and Croydon (Series 1 A Slow Bus To Chingford 1981)
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Trotter Crash Turbans (15%) - The Trotter brothers plan to sell crash helmets with turbans pre-attached, for Sikh motorbike riders (Christmas Trilogy, Modern Men 1996)
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Indoor Sunbed Salesman (14%) - Del Boy attempts to sell sunbeds for in house use - proving that they work on an unsuspecting Rodney (Series 5 Tea For Three 1986)
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Perfume Trader (13%) - Del boy and Rodney attempt to get over their losing streak by making cheap perfume to sell in the 'perfume shop of today' (Series 2 A Losing Streak 1982)
Two new retrospective specials featuring Sir David Jason are set to arrive at Gold in honour of the channel's 25th Birthday celebrations.
David Jason: My Life on Screen starts on Gold on Saturday 26th August at 6pm. The new retrospective show is a tribute to one of the nation's best love comedy actors and will features some of his most iconic starring roles, from Open All Hours to Only Fools and Horses. For the first time, Sir David Jason will look back at his incredible life in television in this exclusive three part special. This revealing, highly personal insight into the life and career of the actor, who has become a national treasure, will be told in his own words.
The Story of Only Fools & Horses starts on Gold on Tuesday 29th August at 8pm and is the definitive story of Britain's best-loved TV family. This six-part series features rare and unseen footage from the Trotter archives and specially re-created moments from Del Boy's family and friends. Sir David Jason and other members of this tight-knit crew analyse their favourite sequences, experiences and memories, giving viewers unprecedented access to John Sullivan's Peckham-based masterpiece. Plus an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how certain scenes arose and how stories developed to create those well-loved comedy moments.
Notes to editors:
For more information please contact: Sam Corry, Frankie Allen or Eleanor Carter sc@taylorherring.com / fa@taylorherring.com/ ec@taylorherring.com Tel: 0208 206 5151
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Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel. Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered sit alongside successful commissions including Comic Strip Presents...Red Top and Marley's Ghosts, starring Sarah Alexander and John Hannah, and the live broadcast of the final ever performance of the Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go stage show which became the highest rating programme in Gold's history in 2014. The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.
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