History Recap / OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS9E02StrangersOnTheShore

* PokemonSpeak: Gary. Justified in that he doesn’t understand a word of English.

* RashomonStyle: When Rashid Mamoon (a.k.a. "Gary") is shown on TV towards the end of the episode, he's describing the events of this episode from his perspective. While Del and Rodney thought he was an illegal immigrant who'd snuck into the lorry at some point, Rashid thought he'd been kidnapped by a criminal gang who for some reason kept repeating the word "Gary" when they spoke to him. As far as he was concerned, Boycie asking him if he wanted a sandwich while waving a breadknife around seemed like a very threatening gesture.

After the fire brigade allows Boycie to move back into his house, he asks Del to drive him to France so he can sign the contract. Rodney suggests taking Gary with them, but Del refuses out of fear of being caught smuggling an illegal immigrant ''out'' of the country. As it happens, though, Gary's not been seen since Damien took him out to play football. The Trotters drive Boycie to France in a van (which Del intends to fill up with more cheap alcohol), while a TV news report featuring "Gary" reveals his real name to be Rashid Mamoon; he was working in the wine warehouse when he was accidentally trapped in Denzil's lorry while the booze was being loaded. He believes that he was kidnapped, and as a result the police are searching for a criminal group that the media has nicknamed the "Gary Gang". When Del, Rodney, and Boycie meet the latter's business partner, Mr. Mamoon, he introduces them to his son ... Rashid. Recognising his "kidnappers", Rashid panics -- leading his father to call the police and have Del, Rodney and Boycie are arrested for kidnapping.

* GladYouThoughtOfIt: Del uses this to get Denzil to accompany him on his booze cruise to France. Denzil tries to back out but Trigger reminds him "It was your idea".

* ShoutOut: When Raquel and Cassandra learn that Uncle Albert first met Elsie Partridge -- the woman he ended up living with -- ''before'' the War, they decide that his life was very much like ''Literature/CaptainCorellisMandolin''. On learning of his promiscuity in the French village, Del quips that it was more like "Captain Birdseye's Banjo".

* AscendedFanboy: Perry Agajenoffa, president of the ''Only Fools and Horses'' Appreciation Society, appears as an extra in one of the scenes in the Nag's Head.

** Also, the title is a nod to the 1962 Acker Bilk instrumental "Stranger on the Shore".

* * TranslateTheLoanwordsToo: Del knows the French for "duck", but can't figure out how to translate the "''a l'orange''" bit of his favourite French meal.

* RashomonStyle: When Rashid Mamoon (a.k.a. "Gary") is shown on TV towards the end of the episode, he's describing the events of this episode from his perspective; while Del thought Gary was an illegal immigrant who'd snuck into the van at some point and tried to figure out what to do with him, Rashid thought he'd been kidnapped by a criminal gang who for some reason kept repeating the word "Gary".

* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Rashid Mamoon (a.k.a. "Gary") can speak perfect English -- but he has trouble understanding ''Peckham'' English. Thus, he can't explain to them that he's not an illegal immigrant, and they can't tell him that they haven't kidnapped him.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Del and Rodney aren't inclined to believe the veteran's story about Albert's wartime promiscuity ... until they notice that quite a few of the older local men look rather familiar.

* * TranslateTheLoanwordsToo: Del knows the French for "duck", but can't figure out how to translate the "a l'orange" bit of his favourite French meal.

After the fire brigade allows Boycie to move back into his house, he asks Del to drive him to France so he can sign the contract. Rodney suggests taking Gary with them, but Del refuses out of fear of being caught smuggling an illegal immigrant ''out'' of the country. As it happens, though, Gary's not been seen since Damien took him out to play football. The Trotters drive Boycie to France in a van (which Del intends to fill up with more cheap alcohol), while a TV news report featuring "Gary" reveals his real name to be Rashid Mamoon; he was working in the wine warehouse when he was accidentally trapped in Denzil's lorry while the booze was being loaded. He believes that he was kidnapped, and as a result the police are searching for a criminal group that the media has nicknamed the "Gary Gang". When Del, Rodney, and Boycie meet the latter's business partner, Mr. Mamoon, he introduces them to his son ... Rashid, who they know as "Gary". Recognising his "kidnappers", Rashid panics -- leading his father to call the police and have Del, Rodney and Boycie are arrested for kidnapping.

After the fire brigade allows Boycie to move back into his house, he asks Del to drive him to France so he can sign the contract. Rodney suggests taking Gary with them, but Del refuses out of fear of being caught smuggling an illegal immigrant ''out'' of the country -- but as it happens, Damien took Gary out to play football and he's not been seen since. The Trotters drive Boycie to France in a van (which Del intends to fill up with more cheap alcohol), while a TV news report featuring "Gary" reveals his real name to be Rashid Mamoon; he was working in the wine warehouse when he was accidentally trapped in Denzil's lorry while the booze was being loaded. He believes that he was kidnapped, and as a result the police are searching for a criminal group that the media has nicknamed the "Gary Gang". When Del, Rodney, and Boycie meet the latter's business partner, Mr. Mamoon, he introduces them to his son ... Rashid, who they know as "Gary". Recognising his "kidnappers", Rashid panics -- leading his father to call the police and have Del, Rodney and Boycie are arrested for kidnapping.

Back in Peckham, while unloading the alcohol in Del's garage, they find an illegal immigrant in the back of the lorry. They're unable to find out the man's name as he does not appear to understand English. Del and Rodney bring him up to the flat and introduce him to the rest of the family as "Gary", a friend of Rodney's. A short time later, Boycie shows up asking to stay the night at the flat -- because a gas leak from the log-effect fires Del sold him has filled his house with gas and the fire brigade has evacuated the entire road. Marlene and Tyler are staying at her mother's, but she's banned Boycie from staying there because of an argument caused by the onion purée Del squeezed into Boycie's hair gel. Feeling guilty, Del reluctantly allows him to sleep on the sofa.

A few days later, the fire brigade allows Boycie to move back into his house, and he asks Del to drive him to France so he can sign the contract. Rodney suggests taking Gary with them, but Del refuses out of fear of being caught smuggling an illegal immigrant ''out'' of the country -- but as it happens, Damien took Gary out to play football and he's not been seen since. The Trotters drive Boycie to France in a van (which Del intends to fill up with more cheap alcohol), while a TV news report featuring "Gary" reveals his real name to be Rashid Mamoon; he was working in the wine warehouse when he was accidentally trapped in Denzil's lorry while the booze was being loaded. He believes that he was kidnapped, and as a result the police are searching for a criminal group that the media has nicknamed the "Gary Gang". When Del, Rodney, and Boycie meet the latter's business partner, Mr. Mamoon, he introduces them to his son ... Rashid, who they know as "Gary". Recognising his "kidnappers", Rashid panics -- leading his father to call the police and have Del, Rodney and Boycie are arrested for kidnapping.

To make ends meet, Del is now working as Boycie's chauffeur. For his part, Boycie is on the verge of signing a multi-million pound deal with an Iranian businessman, and brags that when he's a millionaire, he will not make the same mistakes as Del. Annoyed Del gets revenge by squeezing a tube of onion purée into Boycie's hair gel (which Boycie can't smell it because he has a blocked nose). Meanwhile, Del's bought twenty Slovakian log-effect gas fires, and a letter arrives for the late Uncle Albert inviting him to a war reunion at a village in France.

Sometime later, Raquel and a pregnant Cassandra talk about how Albert's life (in particular his relationship with Elsie Partridge) bore similarities with the plot of ''Literature/CaptainCorellisMandolin''. Rodney suggests that he and Del represent Albert at the reunion; while on the ferry to France, they can scatter Albert's ashes at sea. Del agrees, but quickly ropes Trigger and Denzil into a plan to use the trip to buy a large amount of duty-free alcohol which they can sell to Sid at the pub.

* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/CaptainCorellisMandolin'', which Raquel and Cassandra find to have been a lot like Albert's life. On learning of his promiscuity in the French village, Del quips that it was more like "Captain Birdseye's Banjo".