Only Fools and Horses: The subtle change to Del Boy’s and Rodney Trotter’s flat that most fans didn’t spot

Even Only Fools and Horses mega fans may not have been able to spot the small change that was made to the iconic set of the BBC show. As sitcom lovers will know, the majority of scenes took place in Del Boy (Sir David Jason), and Rodney Trotter’s (Nicholas Lyndhurst) very own Peckham flat.

So of course, over time, many became familiar with the furniture that they owned or where certain items were kept in their fairly small home. At this point, you might be scratching your head trying to figure out what you may have missed. Well, let me tell you, the reason you didn’t notice it was because it was a very subtle change – since the show’s bosses only made their flat bigger.

A recent Channel 5 documentary titled Secrets and Scandals, saw former cast members speaking out about what went on behind the scenes. During one segment, author Mike Jones gave an insight into the Trotter flat and how the crew had to make changes to it over time.

He explained fans wouldn’t have noticed, but the crew had to make the set of the flat bigger because of the growing cast. At one point, Rodney, his wife Cassandra, Del Boy’s partner Raquel and their son Damien all lived in the Peckham flat.

He said: “You don’t really notice unless you look for it. But with the expanded cast, the set a got a lot bigger. They literally just added a metre and a half where the window was, there is an extra section there.”

Since the beginning of Only Fools and Horses, which was first broadcast in 1981, the Trotter family lived in Peckham in a high-rise council block called Nelson Mandela House.

For those who aren’t hardcore fans, it might be a surprise that the tower block is in fact in West London, not Peckham, and the block’s real name is Harlech Tower. The iconic tower, on the South Acton Estate in Ealing, is seen at the beginning of every episode during the title sequence and is 13 miles away from Peckham.