Only Fools And Horses fan ‘reliving’ all 64 episodes through miniature town

Kevin Jones spent close to three months, from October 25 2023 to January 17 this year, making his unique 00 scale take on Peckham – the classic BBC comedy show’s primary location – which he has called “Peckham town”.

The 38-year-old based in Cramlington in Northumberland, balanced the project alongside his job as a building site foreman and joiner. He crowdsourced ideas for the project online from hundreds of fellow fans on Facebook.

He told the PA news agency: “I was at a boot sale and I found a box full of 00 gauge Metcalfe Models.

“I took them away for like £15 and I brought them home for my eight-year-old daughter to play with and she played with them for about an hour, then said: ‘I don’t want them dad.’

“I didn’t want to see them go to waste and so that’s when I came up with the idea to make this.”

Most parts of the project were bought from two local model shops in Sunderland and Durham, with Mr Jones also using Amazon and eBay to piece together his miniature project.

He started by putting some roads out on the layout before adding in the different models – which include miniature buildings linked to the show such as a blocks of flats named “Desmond Tutu House” and “Nelson Mandela House”.

Other buildings include the “Tyler Street Bus and Coach Garage” and a shop called “Rock and Chips”, which references the British television comedy-drama Rock & Chips – a prequel to Only Fools And Horses.

When he ran out of ways to reference the show using buildings, he turned to help from Facebook to ensure he incorporated all 64 episodes of the programme.

Only Fools And Horses was created by the late John Sullivan and starred Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Del Boy Trotter and his brother Rodney. Running from 1981 to 2003, it has become one of the nation’s most beloved comedies.

“When I showed my progress in some of the groups (miniature and Only Fools And Horses Facebook groups) there was a lot of people saying: ‘What about this?'” Mr Jones said.

“I also used the groups to get a response to my ideas and there were three that I put in that seemed to be getting the best response – the luminous grave (from episode The Yellow Peril), a little rhino because there’s a rhino loose in the city (from episode Video Nasty) and the Eels on Wheels van (which was mentioned in three episodes – Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, The Jolly Boys’ Outing and Three Men, A Woman, And A Baby).”

Mr Jones’ favourite episode The Jolly Boys’ Outing is referenced via miniatures of the Percy’s Luxury Tours of Peckham bus and the Villa Bella hotel.

He spent roughly £1,250 on the creation, including making its glass casing and the table it rests upon for around £500.

Mr Jones said the trickiest element was wiring up all the streetlights, but it was worth it to see the whole project lit up as it was “absolutely amazing”.

His post on the finished model has proved to be very popular on Facebook, with hundreds of people interacting with it – and someone even asking if it was for sale.

“It was nice to see that people enjoyed it and some said they couldn’t stop looking at the pictures and finding all the references,” he said.

“It’s my way of reliving the episodes.”

Reflecting on the first time he came across the show, he said he was “very young” and on a bus to Spain for a holiday.

“I remember I was like: ‘What the heck’s this?’ and didn’t watch it,” he said.

“Now I would love to sit on a bus for a day and a half and watch it.

“The show reminds me of my grandma and grandpa who are no longer here – it takes you back, it’s an escape.”

He said he thinks the enduring legacy of the show is largely down to “the perfectly written humour” and “the perfect casting”.

“For me, it’s the element of taking you back to a simple day, where the world seems a lot easier,” he added.