The band episode. First broadcast 14 March 1985.
Rodney has become a drummer in an aspiring rock band. Del disapproves of Rodney's new bandmates, especially lead singer Mental Mickey Maguire, calling them "a bunch of wallies". Later on, though, he decides to become their manager and books them to play the St Patrick's Day party at the Shamrock Club. When the gig ends in a fight, the band leg it (except for Mental Mickey, who just joins in the fighting), leaving the instruments behind them.
When Rodney finds out that the musical equipment has vanished, he contacts the police. When Del sees him talking to a policeman, he quickly distracts the officer and pulls Rodney aside. Turns out, Del had the instruments on sale or return, and he'd taken them back because the band was so bad.
Afte getting sacked from the band for defending Del, Rodney calls his brother out on interfering with his dreams. The two argue, but patch up their differences when Del gives Rodney his share of the gig booking fee and persuades him to forget about Mental Mickey.
Some time later, Del discovers to his horror that Mental Mickey's band, now called A Bunch of Wallies, have hired a new drummer and reached the UK Top 40 and are on Top of the Pops. He tries and fails to prevent Rodney from finding out; the episode ends with Rodney threatening Del with a drumstick.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: Both Del Boy's 2015 autobiography He Who Dares and the 2016 book The Peckham Archives reveal that A Bunch of Wallies' popularity quickly faded after their one hit "Boys Will Be Boys" and their only appearance on Top of the Pops, due to Mental Mickey beating up the replacement drummer, Eric, for telling him what to do.
- Band Episode: Rodney joins a band, and Del becomes the band's manager.
- Berserk Button: Mental Mickey really doesn't like anybody else doing the "1-2-3"s before a song.
- Blatant Lies: Del tries to prevent Rodney from finding out that the band are on Top of the Pops by telling him that all of the televisions in the flat don't work.
- Brand X: Del and Rodney sell knock-off brand Maltesers at the market.
- Fighting Irish: Mental Mickey, and most of the patrons of the Shamrock Club.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Mental Mickey Maguire, the band's hot-headed lead singer, once bit another man's ear off.
- It Will Never Catch On: Del thinks this of Mental Mickey's band — according to him, the only hall they are destined to play at is "sod all". But by the end of the episode, they're on TV and their song has got to no. 27 in the charts.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Seeing how depressed Rodney is about being kicked out of the band, Del gives Rodney £150 of the £300 he got for booking the band into the Shamrock Club. The best Rodney can usually hope for is a 60/40 split.
- Noodle Incident: Mental Mickey once bit someone's ear off.
- The Pete Best: In-universe: Rodney is literally this to A Bunch of Wallies, given that they go on to appear on Top of the Pops after he gets sacked as the band’s drummer.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: As befits an episode about a would-be rock-and-roll band, the title is this to the The Rolling Stones album of the same name.
- Running Gag: Rodney calls Del out on his habit of using their late mother as a form of emotional blackmail against him.Del: I remember what Mum said on her death bed. She said to me: "Del," she said, "please give little Rodney all the encouragement that you can. Never, Del, never hold him back."Rodney: She didn't half say a lot on her death bed, didn't she?Del: What?Rodney: Whatever the subject is, Mum had something to say about it on her death bed. She must have spent her final few hours in this mortal realm doing nothing but rabbiting!Del: You are walking a bleeding tightrope here, Rodney!Rodney: No, hang on! Right, you remember last week we were having a row about whose turn it was to go down the chippy, yeah? And you claimed that Mum said on her death bed: "Send Rodney for the fish!"Del: Yeah well, I'd had a few, hadn't I?
- St. Patrick's Day Episode: Rodney has joined a band, and Del immediately capitalizes on this by booking them into The Shamrock Club to play for the St Patrick's night festivities.
