Britain's favourite wideboys, Del Boy and Rodney, will lead the Beeb's battle for ratings this Christmas, the BBC announced last night. The Cockney favourites return to the small screen for the first time in five years in three new episodes.

The specials will reveal what happened after the Trotters left Sotheby's £6.2m the richer from the sale of an antique watch and has Del Boy's son, Damien, now aged ten.

But viewers will have to be patient as only one episode of Only Fools and Horses will be shown this Christmas, with the other two being screened over the next year or two.

And the much reported link-up with ITV that would have seen Del Boy on hit quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is definitely off.

A BBC spokesman said a request by ITV for a repeat episode fee could not be funded out of licence fee-payers' money, and a different storyline had been written.

Other highlights over Christmas and New Year include a re-make of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle dinosaur classic, The Lost World.

Bob Hoskins, Peter Falk and James Fox head the cast, along with Walking With Dinosaurs technology, for the two-parter.

Cartoon aardvark Hamilton will entertain young and old in the animation special Hamilton Mattress, while movie premieres include animation favourites Toy Story and Antz, Flubber, starring Robin Williams, and the Mask of Zorro with Catherine Zeta Jones and Antontio Banderas.

Gwyneth Paltrow makes a double showing with the screenings of the films Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love.

Lenny Henry returns with new characters in a special while Alistair McGowan serves up a festive feast with a host of favourite faces.