Sue Holderness argues that comedy isn’t as funny as it used to be, blaming social media and oversensitivity to potentially offensive content for stifling the art form.
The 75-year-old actress, who played Marlene, the wife of Boycie, in the beloved British sitcom from 1985 to 2003, made her remarks while discussing a controversial episode of Only Fools and Horses that dealt with transracial adoption. The episode in question, “From Prussia with Love,” featured Del Boy attempting to sell a baby to Boycie and Marlene, only to reveal at the end that the child was of mixed race, prompting the couple to back out of the arrangement.
Speaking on the Only Fools and Horses Podcast, Holderness reflected on how the show’s content would be perceived in today’s climate. She acknowledged that while the episode may not have been considered controversial at the time of its broadcast, it certainly would be now. The real problem, in her view, is not the content itself but rather the environment in which comedy must operate.
Holderness argued that writing comedy in the current socio-political climate has become “difficult” because writers are no longer free to be “filthily rude,” which she believes is essential to satire. “Part of the fun, especially with satire, you rely on being filthily rude about everybody and everything, don’t you, which is what makes people laugh,” she explained.
The actress pinned much of the blame on social media. She pointed out that when Only Fools and Horses was being made in the 1980s and 1990s, social media did not exist, so viewers could not become “worked up” about potentially offensive content. Now, she suggested, the landscape has fundamentally changed. “When we were making Only Fools And Horses, there was no social media. It didn’t exist, did it? So people couldn’t get worked up and wild about tiny little things,” Holderness said.
Her conclusion was stark. “I think already we’re seeing signs that comedy isn’t as funny as it used to be,” she stated. The comment reflects a broader concern among some in the entertainment industry about the impact of social media and changing cultural attitudes on creative freedom.
This sentiment is not unique to Holderness. Other cast members from the show have also weighed in on how television has changed. Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played the hapless Rodney Trotter, has previously stated that he believes Only Fools and Horses would never be made today. According to Lyndhurst, television companies are no longer willing to take risks on shows that have a slow start, instead preferring content that immediately attracts large audiences.
The broader context for Holderness’s comments is that several episodes of Only Fools and Horses have come with content warnings on broadcast platforms in recent years, and some controversial episodes have been pulled from rotation entirely. These decisions have sparked debates about how to balance preserving classic television with acknowledging its historical biases and outdated attitudes.
The show’s enduring popularity, however, suggests that audiences still hold the series in high regard. A two-part documentary special titled Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, featuring previously unseen footage from the show, was set to air in 2026. The special brought together surviving cast members including David Jason, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong, and Sue Holderness to reflect on the show’s legacy and the previously unreleased material that was being restored from original 16mm film negatives.
Holderness’s comments highlight a tension in modern entertainment: the desire to preserve and celebrate classic television while navigating contemporary sensibilities about what is and isn’t acceptable to broadcast. Whether her assessment that comedy has fundamentally changed for the worse will resonate with audiences remains to be seen, but her perspective offers insight into the challenges that writers and producers face when creating comedy in an era of constant social media scrutiny.