31 January 2024 , 17:52
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An Only Fools and Horses superfan has created a miniature town to ‘relive’ Britain’s favourite TV comedy.
Kevin Jones made his ‘Peckham Town’ with tiny versions of the Nag’s Head pub, Sotheby’s and Del Boy’s famous three-wheeled Reliant Regal. He spent months on the classic BBC comedy show’s set.
It was a labour of love for the 38-year-old alongside his job as a building site foreman and joiner. He crowdsourced ideas from hundreds of fellow fans on Facebook. The original idea was to build a model for his daughter.
But she got bored with it so he had a re-think. Kevin, of Cramlington, Northumberland, recalled: “I was at a boot sale and I found a box full of 00 gauge Metcalfe Models. I took them away for £15 for my eight-year-old daughter to play with. She had them for an hour, then said: ‘I don’t want them dad.’ That’s when I came up with the idea to make this.”
Kevin started the project after his daughter grew bored of the models (PA)Most of the town came from model shops, along with miniature deals on Amazon and eBay. He has 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”, a reference to TV comedy Rock & Chips, a prequel to Only Fools And Horses.
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Fans gave helpful tips and advice to ensure he incorporated all 64 shows. His favourite episode The Jolly Boys’ Outing is reflected in the Percy’s Luxury Tours of Peckham bus and the Villa Bella hotel.
Kevin Jones spent £1,250 on his replica of Peckham (PA)He spent £1,250, including its glass casing, and a £500 table to display it. The trickiest parts were the street lights but he says seeing the entire set lit up is “absolutely amazing”.
“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 of the interest created by his town after he posted a picture online. “It’s my way of reliving the episodes.”
The model is impressively realistic (PA)Kevin thinks the enduring legacy of the show is largely down to “the perfectly written humour” and “the perfect casting”.
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 is widely regarded as the nation’s favourite TV comedy.