From the BBC press release:
It's 1960 and Peckham's answer to Brigitte Bardot, Joan Trotter, is not-so-happily ensconced with the work-shy, Reg Trotter and her teenage son, Derek. But the reappearance of "art connoisseur" Freddie Rodbal, fresh from a 10-year stay as a guest of Her Majesty, is set to ruffle some feathers in the Trotter household.
Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips is written by Only Fools And Horses creator John Sullivan, will be produced by Gareth Gwenlan and executive produced by Mark Freeland for BBC Comedy.
Mark Freeland, Head of Comedy at the BBC, says: "'Once upon a time in Peckham...' How incredibly tantalising. Nearly 30 years since Only Fools And Horses hit our screens, now we'll have the chance to see the vivid, bittersweet drama that underpinned the iconic series."
A co-production between in-house BBC Comedy and John Sullivan's production company Shazam Productions, Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips will start shooting, entirely on location in London, in August, for transmission next year.
The comedy drama will centre on the relationships between the glamorous (certain neighbours might say "tarty") Joan Trotter, Del-boy's useless father Reg, the safe-cracker, Freddie Robdal and the young Del-boy himself.
And there will be a chance to see the teenage incarnations of some familiar faces including Boycie, Trigger, Denzil and Jumbo Mills.
The Trotter family haven't yet moved into their flat in Nelson Mandela House, but there'll be some recognisable settings such as the mean streets of Peckham and the Nag's Head circa 1960.
Writer John Sullivan says: "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips will be set in the real Sixties, before The Beatles and Mary Quant made London the coolest place on the planet."
"The drama will feature South London at its least glamorous, where money was scarce, the staple diet was rock salmon and chips, and the flicks offer the only hint of glamour. And it will give us a bit of an insight into why Del and Rodney turned out they way they did."
Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Chips is a co-production between Shazam Productions and BBC Comedy and was commissioned by Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One and Lucy Lumsden, former Controller, Comedy Commissioning.
How do we feel about this? Personally, the idea behind it doesn't sound too bad, but I have little faith in John Sullivan these days. Only Fools & Horses was a classic that was unwisely brought back for specials after the perfect ending of the 1996 special (where the Trotters finally became millionaires), but a lot of its early success was down to David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and the rest of the cast.
I'm not sure how a prequel could ever duplicate the original cast's chemistry. Really, it feels like Sullivan is all out of ideas. He's already spent the past few years writing Only Fools spin-off The Green Green Grass (focusing on supporting character Boycie moving his family to a rural mansion), and that's arguably one of the worst sitcoms around today. The fact it enjoys fairly healthy ratings just beggars belief, but I guess there aren't many sitcoms catering for the over-50s today.
Oh well. I'm at least interested, because the idea doesn't sound too terrible on paper. If John Sullivan can somehow find his spark and they cast great actors in these roles, it stands a chance. In particular, they need to find someone who can do a passable Del Boy impression as the teenage Trotter, and it would be nice to imagine Jason himself agreeing to play his own screen father Reg. Or is he clever enough to keep his distance?
