Only Fools and Horses episode 'banned' and re-edited because of Del Boy scenes

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An Only Fools and Horses episode is believed to have been banned by the show's creator as he had felt it portrayed Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter badly.The special festive episode 'A Royal Flush', which was written and created by the late John Sullivan, originally been broadcast on the BBC on Christmas Day in 1986.

During the episode, Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) meets the daughter of a duke, with brother Del Boy (David Jason) then trying to help him make a good impression.When it first broadcast, the episode raked in 18 million viewers but it has been branded as one of the worst episodes of the show, with creator Sullivan said to have "hated it" himself.

Sullivan is said to have taken issue with the portrayal of Del Boy in the episode, which was reportedly completed just hours before broadcast and had no audience laughter, writes The Mirror.Del Boy has been considered out of character in 'A Royal Flush,' with him belittling Rodney at a posh dinner and threatening an audience member at the opera as well.It's understood that the original version of the episode was released on VHS in 1998 - almost a decade after it had first aired - with it later issued in DVD format in 2005.

The DVD version however is said to have been heavily edited at Sullivan's request, with audience laughter added over it and around 18 minutes of footage purportedly cut.The edited version reportedly featured in subsequent releases and TV repeats, though both versions of the episode were remastered for a Blu-Ray collection last year.