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.
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The following year, Diamonds Are For Heather got an equally lightweight push.
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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.
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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.
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Tomorrow, we’ll look at the specials that aired between series from 1986-1988.
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