The axe-murderer episode. First broadcast 24 November 1983.
The Trotters are off to Boycie's cottage in Cornwall for the weekend to do some illegal salmon fishing. On the way, they encounter a police roadblock and are told that a convicted axe-murderer has escaped from a local psychiatric hospital and is believed to be at large in the area. A storm is raging.
Later that night, after an argument over a game of Monopoly, Rodney opens the curtains of the front window to look at the weather and is confronted by a man on the other side staring through the window. Rodney is unnerved but the others are reluctant to believe him when he tells them. A man calls at the door and introduces himself as Chief Robinson, the head of security from the hospital from which the psycho escaped.
Reassured by his insistence that the psycho will be far from the cottage, Del feels confident to use the outside toilet. When leaving the toilet, he opens the door and accidentally knocks out the man whom Rodney had seen at the window earlier. Rodney and Grandad take him to the police station, but once they get there the police tell them that he's is actually the local gamekeeper. And Chief Robinson is actually in hospital after being attacked.
Back at the cottage, Del is with the real psychopath. As a police helicopter flies over, they play an imaginary game of snooker.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The 2016 book The Peckham Archive would reveal the axe murderer's name to be Charles "Chopper" Winters.
- Alone with the Psycho: Del ends up alone in the cottage with the escaped psychopath, who turns out to have been disguised as the hospital's head of security. He wants to play an imaginary game of snooker. On learning that he doesn't like winning, Del suggests they play for money...
- Assurance Backfire: Rodney objects to Del's plan to go salmon fishing because it’s stealing. Grandad says it’s not stealing. It’s poaching.
- Blatant Lies: How Del explains the presence of fishing rods to the psycho, who really hates fishing.
- Comically Missing the Point: The psycho sneaks up behind Del, reaching out threateningly. Del, pouring drinks, turns and neatly places the glass in his hand.
- Every Man Has His Price: Rodney is initially sceptical about Del's poaching scheme ... until he finds out that he'll get a share of the profits.
- Hypocritical Humour: Del and Grandad slate Rodney for being a bad loser when he ends a game of Monopoly by upturning the board in anger, when the reason he did this was because Del and Grandad were cheating. Rodney's reaction suggests that this isn't the first time they've done this.
- Lightning Reveal: How Rodney sees the face at the window. Of course Del and Grandad are facing the other way and miss it, so the whole thing also ends up being a case of a Cassandra Truth.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: This episode is a spoof of the Friday the 13th franchise (of which there had been three movies by the time this episode was broadcast). The title reflects that.
- The Reveal: When Rodney and Grandad take the man they believe to be the escaped axe-murderer to the police station, they are told that he's actually the local gamekeeper. And Robinson, the hospital's head of security who they think they left at the cottage with Del, is in fact in hospital as a result of being attacked by the murderer, who stole his uniform.
- Roguish Poacher: Hinted at, as the whole purpose of the trip to Cornwall is so Del can poach some salmon from a local estate by bribing the gamekeeper to look the other way. The salmon will then be taken to London and sold to a restaurant owner, who's offered to pay £10 per fish caught. However, what with one thing or another, he doesn't get around to doing any actual poaching, as far as the viewer can see.
- Shout-Out: When asked if he knows what a psycho is, Grandad replies: "He's a bloke who dresses up as his mum."
- Suddenly Shouting:Psycho: Do you like fish?
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Del's lifetime of wheeling and dealing means he's very hard to beat at Monopoly, although (as with his career) he only plays by the rules when they suit him.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Hinted at when Del and Grandad discuss whether the escaped psychopath is already in the cottage.Del: So what are you telling me then? The psycho's upstairs having a kip?
Grandad: Well he could be up there Del...
Del: Well I shouldn't let it worry you, Grandad, because the three bears have probably eaten him by now! - Zany Scheme: Downplayed; salmon-poaching is Del's latest one, which is the whole reason for him going to Cornwall with Rodney and Grandad, but he's not shown to be doing any (thanks to the storm and the escaped psycho), and we never find out if it was a successful venture or not.
