Del Boy falling through bar is voted greatest TV moment ever
‘Play it nice and cool, son’: Iconic Only Fools and Horses scene in which Del Boy fell through an open bar is voted greatest TV moment of all time in poll
- Episode shows Peckham’s best-known wheeler-dealer falling through a bar
- The clip has been crowned has been voted the greatest TV moment of all time
- It beat Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent in a survey of 2,000 Britons
Published: 11:17 EDT, 13 July 2020 | Updated: 21:06 EDT, 13 July 2020
Del Boy Trotter falling through a bar in Only Fools and Horses has been voted the greatest TV moment of all time.
In what has become TV comedy gold, the episode ‘Yuppy Love’ shows Peckham’s best-known wheeler-dealer – played by David Jason – telling Trigger how to woo ‘modern Euro-birds.’
As he spots two women looking over, Del Boy tells Trigger, played by the late Roger Lloyd Pack: ‘Play it nice and cool, son, nice and cool – you know what I mean?’, before disappearing through the bar.
It beat Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent and Den Watts handing his wife Angie divorce papers, which came in second and third place respectively, in a survey of 2,000 Brits conducted by Virgin Media.
Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent was named the second best TV moment
Researchers polled TV fans to discover the dramatic scenes, cliff-hangers and laugh out loud moments which have captivated the nation over the years.
Some 39 percent of those polled named the iconic Only Fools moment is the best.
It was followed by Susan Boyle’s audition and Den ‘Dirty Den’ Watts handing his wife Angie divorce papers on Christmas Day in EastEnders.
Finding out who shot JR on Dallas, Sir David Attenborough meeting mountain gorillas on Life on Earth and Captain Blackadder going ‘over the top’ into German gunfire on Blackadder also made the list.
Other highlights include Rachel getting off the plane to reunite with Ross in the final episode of Friends, Kat Slater telling Zoe Slater she’s her mother in EastEnders and Hayley and Roy’s heartbreaking goodbye in Coronation Street.
Reality TV moments also made the list, including Gillian McKeith ‘fainting’ in I’m A Celebrity and MP George Galloway pretending to be a cat in Celebrity Big Brother.
Den ‘Dirty Den’ Watts handing his wife Angie divorce papers (26 percent) on Christmas Day EastEnders
‘Yuppy Love’, shows Peckham’s best-known wheeler-dealer telling Trigger to ‘play it nice and cool’ before falling straight through the bar
Some 54 percent of those polled said they have been watching more TV as a family over the last three months, and one quarter admit it has brought them closer together.
More than half of Brits insist they couldn’t have survived lockdown without TV to keep them going.
According to the data people from Cardiff are the nation’s biggest TV lovers, watching 27 hours of television every week.
- Voting for the Virgin Media Must-See Moment Award closes July 15 at 5pm and the winner is announced exclusively at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards on July 31. Members of the public can vote online and will automatically enter into a prize draw.
BRITAIN’S TOP TV MOMENTS
1. Del Boy falls through the bar (Only Fools and Horses) 39%
2. Susan Boyle’s audition (Britain’s Got Talent) 27%
3. Den Watts hands wife Angie divorce papers (EastEnders) 26%
4. Who shot JR? (Dallas) 25%
5. David Attenborough meets the mountain gorillas (Life on Earth) 22%
6. Captain Blackadder goes ‘over the top’ into German gunfire (Blackadder) 22%
7. Rachel gets off the plane and gets back together with Ross (Friends) 19%
8. Kat Slater tells Zoe Slater she’s her mum (EastEnders) 18%
9. Hayley and Roy Cropper say goodbye (Coronation Street) 17%
10. Gillian McKeith faints (I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here) 16%
11. ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton dies after mum Dot refuses to call 999 (EastEnders) 15%
12. The Red Wedding (Game of Thrones) 15%
13. Nana dies (The Royle Family) 15%
14. Kylie Platt stabbed in the heart (Coronation Street) 15%
15. The tram crash (Coronation Street) 15%
16. George Galloway pretending to be a cat (Celebrity Big Brother) 14%
17. Arthur Fowler’s breakdown (EastEnders) 14%
18. Margo drinks Tom and Barbara’s home brewed wine (The Good Life) 13%
19. Rylan getting through to the X Factor live shows (X Factor) 13%
20. Ted Finally Meets the Mother (How I Met Your Mother) 13%
21. Nikki Grahame’s ‘Who is she?!’ rant (Big Brother 7) 13%
22. Walter White watches Jesse’s girlfriend Jane die – and does nothing (Breaking Bad)13%
23. David Brent dances (The Office) 12%
24. Colin Firth’s Mr Darcey emerges from the lake (Pride and Prejudice) 12%
25. That Brexit discussion – Love Island 11%
26. Carrie Bradshaw finally gets together with Mr Big (Sex and the City) 11%
27. Tony Soprano hears the restaurant door open and looks up… (The Sopranos finale)10%
28. Zammo’s drug overdose (Grange Hill) 10%
29. Matthew Crawley’s Car Accident (Downton Abbey) 9%
30. Matthew’s Christmas proposal to Lady Mary (Downton Abbey) 9%
31. Iain’s Baked Alaska ‘sabotaged’ (The Great British Bake Off) 9%
32. Blue Peter garden gets vandalised (Blue Peter) 9%
33. Tim goes back for Dawn at the Christmas Party (The Office) 8%
34. Ken and Deirdre get married (Coronation Street) 8%
35. Rachel Bradley dies in a car crash (Cold Feet) 8%
36. David Brent finally tells ‘Finchy’ what he really thinks of him (The Office) 7%
37. Beth Jordache and Margaret Clemence kiss (Brookside) 6%
38. Denny Duquette’s Death (Grey’s Anatomy) 5%
39. Omar Little gets killed by a child (The Wire) 3%
