Is this the greatest pratfall scene ever? The location is a sophisticated bistro. Well, it may look like a sticky-carpeted pub to the modern viewer but for the Eighties this was the height of sophistication. Del Boy (David Jason) and Trigger (Roger Lloyd-Pack) are dressed to impress. Del has swapped his trademark flatcap and leather jacket for a heavy green mac, and Trigger is in a sharp suit of shocking blue, looking about as comfortable as a mouse on a motorway. To their left sit two likely ladies sipping what looks like Blue Nun. Del Boy insists that they're onto a winner and instructs Trigger to play it cool... Before disappearing through a bar hatch... Trigger turns back to speak to his partner in crime but he's nowhere to be seen. He looks across the room, perplexed, as Del Boy picks himself up. Then Trigger turns back again to find an ego-dented Del Boy by his side. Is it black magic? The look on Trigger's face suggests that it is. This scene from a 1989 episode of Only Fools and Horses is one of the most famous in British TV history. We love it because we love a pratfall. They have existed, of course, since the dawn of comedy, but film and TV have wonderfully exploited their visual potential. Buster Keaton was an early exponent, and one of his best also occurred at a bar as he tried to hoist both legs over it in a feat of acrobatic endurance. He failed. Brilliantly. Ironically it was often the cutting-edge comedians of the Eighties who embraced old-school acrobatics. Rowland Rivron's terrible tumble, while dressed up as one of Seventies dance troupe Pan's People in a French and Saunders skit, is an astonishing act of heroism. And both those women have mastered the art, too. Dawn French's descent into a puddle in The Vicar of Dibley never fails to seem unexpected while her comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders, has a specific gift - the sozzled pratfall. No episode of Absolutely Fabulous is complete without a bit of physical comedy. Indeed it's hard to walk past a luggage carousel without being reminded of Edina (Saunders) and Patsy's (Joanna Lumley) mishap as the conveyor belt starts to move. Today, it is Miranda Hart who is queen of the art form. Hart only has to open her mouth and she's funny, but it's her gift for physical comedy, shown relentlessly in her self-titled sitcom, which makes it so joyously entertaining. Hart's own favourite, her rapid descent into a freshly dug grave is a brilliant fusion of decorum and slapstick. But it is the Only Fools and Horses bar scene from 1989 which stands out above all others and that is not only because of Jason's physicality. The pratfall is only component of the scene. Jason may get the glory but the ensuing moments are beautifully timed by Lloyd-Pack. It is he who makes this scene so memorable thanks to his deadpan expression as his friend mysteriously disappears - simultaneously bewildered and spooked. For this fine character actor to have made so many people laugh so many times is a wonderful legacy. OPINION: Top ten TV moments of the Eighties READ: The 10 best TV shows of 2013 GALLERY: Only Fools and Horses in pictures