The Margate episode, and the 1989 Christmas Special. First broadcast 25 December 1989.
Rodney is now working for Alan, his father-in-law, while Uncle Albert is now Del's lookout down the market. Rodney and Cassandra's first wedding anniversary is approaching, as is the traditional "Jolly Boys' Outing", whereby all the regulars at the Nag's Head pub go on a coach trip to the seaside resort of Margate in Kent.
At Rodney and Cassandra's flat, the Trotters enjoy a sophisticated dinner with Cassandra's parents as well as her boss, Stephen, and his wife, Joanne. Rodney and Alan dislike Stephen due to his yuppie arrogance, while Del mistakenly thinks -– to Stephen's chagrin -– that he and Stephen are kindred spirits. Del invites him to join the outing as Joanne plans to be away visiting her parents, but he politely declines; Del then embarrasses Rodney and Alan by revealing that they are going, something both of them had not yet told their wives.
The trip to Margate is chaotic — Harry the coach driver seemingly gets drunk halfway through the journey, and Rodney gets arrested for accidentally kicking a football at a policeman. But once there, they all enjoy themselves.
Just as they are preparing to leave Margate and head home, their coach, equipped with a faulty Albanian radio sold to the coach company by Del, explodes when the radio ignites the fuel line (the fumes of which had actually caused Harry's incoherence). As there's a train strike and a restricted Bank Holiday bus service, the Jolly Boys are forced to spend the night in Margate. Aware of the limited number of vacant hotel rooms, they split up into groups.
Del, Rodney and Albert arrive at at an inviting and cosy guest house, only to find that the last rooms have been taken by Jevon, Mickey and Denzil. They are directed to the Villa Bella, a rundown, grim-looking place. Unable to sleep, Del and Rodney decide to visit the Mardi Gras nightclub (to which Del had been given complimentary tickets earlier that day). There, Del discovers his ex-girlfriend Raquel is working as part of a magic act with the Great Ramondo. During a break, Del and Raquel happily discuss the past, with Del explaining why he couldn't see her before she left the country. It's clear that they still have affection for each other. Raquel states her intention to stop working with Ramondo, whose real name is Ray, because she finds him intimidating due to his bad temper. Del invites her to live with him in Peckham, which she accepts.
Del and Rodney return to the hotel late, only to discover that they've been locked out. After failing to wake up Albert by throwing a stone at the window (breaking it in the process), they head to Raquel's flat to sleep for the night, only to find out that she shares it with Ray, who berates Raquel for letting them into the flat. Suspecting Ray of blackmailing Raquel into sleeping with him in return for a job and a home, Del assaults Ray and throws his suitcase out of the window. However, a shocked Raquel then tells him that Ray is actually homosexual and they only live together because it's cheaper than renting separate flats. A humiliated Del apologises to Raquel and Ray, who forgive him and allow him and Rodney to stay.
The next morning, Rodney returns to his flat and finds Cassandra and Stephen apparently alone together. Rodney, suspecting Stephen of seducing Cassandra, punches Stephen in the face — but finds that Joanne is also there (she having been unable to visit her parents due to the train strike). He is immediately kicked out by Cassandra.
Back at Nelson Mandela House, Del learns the unintended consequences of his actions the previous night; Albert was hit on the head by the stone that Del threw through the hotel window, and Mike and Boycie were both injured by Ray's suitcase when he threw it out of Raquel's window. However, he and Raquel have arranged to meet the next week. The episode ends as Del starts eating Albert's breakfast, before Rodney angrily enters the flat with his belongings.
Tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: After the Jolly Boys are stranded in Margate following the destruction of their coach, Boycie complains that he might miss the christening of his son, Mike and Sid complain that they have to run their pub and cafe respectively, Jevon complains that he's going to miss out on a date he had arranged for that night ... and then Trigger chimes in and complains that his inflatable dolphin got blown up with their coach.
- Artistic Licence – Geography: It seemingly requires a 6am start to get from Peckham to Margate, a distance of just over 70 miles which, even when taking Bank Holiday traffic into account, shouldn't take much more than a couple of hours.
- Artistic Licence – Law: The Halfway House appears to have a rather liberal approach to licencing laws, given that it's clearly serving alcohol before 11am. The coppers outside don't seem to mind this.
- The Bus Came Back: Raquel, last seen in "Dates", reappears.
- Call-Back: When Rodney protests to Cassandra that Del means well, she recalls the events of "The Unlucky Winner Is". Also, Del tries to explain to Raquel why he was unable to see her before she left the country in "Dates".
- Chekhov's Gun: The smoke fumes seen coming from the radio when the coach is being driven to Margate will become significant later on.
- Christmas Episode: Although as per many Only Fools and Horses Christmas Specials, it's not set during the Christmas period. In fact, it's explicitly stated that the events take place over the August Bank Holiday Weekend.
- Clumsy Copyright Censorship: An entire lengthy scene was removed in repeats, in order to avoid copyright clearance on the song played in the background.
- Continuity Snarl: A mild example — in "Little Problems", Rodney and Cassandra's wedding was stated to be taking place in January 1989, but they are celebrating their first wedding anniversary in August of the same year.
- Contrived Coincidence: Del and Rodney are in a club in Margate watching a magician's act. Who should be the magician's assistant but Del's ex-girlfriend Raquel.
- Deadpan Snarker: Rodney, when Del's waxing lyrical about Raquel.Del: She's got a radiant smile. Have you noticed that?
Rodney: What, her radiant smile? Yeah.
Del: I mean, when she walks in she lights up a room.
Rodney: Yeah. Most of your birds walk in and light up a fag. - Drunk Driver: Played with. When the coach stops at the Halfway House on the way to Margate, it looks as though Harry the driver has got drunk, causing Denzil (who's not drinking because he's taking antibiotics, and has a bus driver's licence) to take over the driving. Harry, though, swears he only drank soft drinks. Turns out, the fumes from the dodgy radio made him incoherent.
- During the War: Albert's story about the time he rammed a German boat off the Greek coast becomes an example of a "Rashomon"-Style story when we learn that the boat was actually manned by British soldiers — including Sid — who had stolen the boat in a bid to escape captivity, but were recaptured after the boat was sunk.
- Hell Hotel: Parodied. The Trotters become stranded in Margate, but cannot find anywhere to stay the night, so they end up in the Villa Bella, a terrifying-looking guest house.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Occurs when Del and Harry are talking about Denzil, who not only has the correct licence to drive the coach (thanks to him being a former bus driver) but is the only one of the Jolly Boys who hasn't been drinking (on account of him being on antibiotics).Del: It's lucky we had Denzil about, weren't it, eh?
Harry: Don't I know it. He's a good bloke, that Denzil.
Del: Good bloke! He's one of the best, one of the very best.
Denzil: Del!
Del: What does that dipstick want now? - Lovely Assistant: Raquel's latest job is this to the Great Ramondo.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Both the Trotter brothers fall into this trope. During their weekend in Margate, they meet up with Del's former girlfriend Raquel, who is currently working as a Lovely Assistant to a Stage Magician called Ray ("the Great Ramondo"). When Del discovers Raquel and Ray share a flat, and Ray berates Raquel for letting the visitors in, he assumes Raquel is trapped in an abusive relationship and punches Ray before the man can explain that he's actually gay. On their arrival home, Rodney discovers Cassandra's boss Stephen in the flat with her (Del had previously fanned the flames of jealousy so Rodney would agree to go out for a drink in Margate, noting that Steven's wife was due to be away that weekend) and likewise starts an altercation, only for Stephen's wife to walk in (her trip away was cancelled due to a train strike). While it's initially Played for Laughs, it turns out to be Played for Drama in subsequent episodes, as it takes a lot of time for Rodney and Cassandra's relationship to recover.
- Never My Fault: At play when Del reminisces about "Eels on Wheels", the fish stall he used to run with Jumbo Mills in the mid-1960s. Apparently, TV did for the business as anthropomorphic depictions of sea creatures in cartoons had a negative effect on children liking fish fingers; the visit by the health inspector was purely incidental.
- Oh, Crap!: An epic one from Rodney when he sees the coach blow up from the phone box, just after he's been defending Del to Cassandra.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Trigger, of course. The following exchange occurs when they're dealing with the drunk coach driver note .Trigger: What d'you think's wrong with him?
Mike: What do I think? Well, snow-blindness would be my bet, Trig.
Trigger: Yeah? I thought he was pissed. - Shout-Out: Rodney says that the hotel the Trotters stay in "looks like The Munsters' weekend place".
- Stage Magician: The Great Ramondo. Although he and his Lovely Assistant share a flat, they're not carrying on together, as he's gay.
- Story Arc: The reintroduction of Raquel sets up the henceforth-ongoing storyline about her relationship with Del, while Rodney's altercation with Steven sets up the also-ongoing storyline about his and Cassandra's marital difficulties.
- Also, it is clear from the dialogue that the Jolly Boys' Outing is a regular event which Del organises every couple of years — although it's never been mentioned before, and is not mentioned again until "Sleepless in Peckham", in which it's revealed that this was the last Jolly Boys' Outing because the coach company wanted nothing more to do with Del after the coach blew up. That episode also establishes that the first Jolly Boys' Outing was in 1960 and it was attended by Freddie Robdal, Rodney's real father; it is shown in the first episode of Rock & Chips.
- Stuff Blowing Up: In this case, the coach ... thanks to the dodgy radio that Del sold to the coach company. The radio, which had been emitting smoke fumes earlier in the day (causing Harry the driver to become incoherent), catches fire just before the Jolly Boys are due to leave Margate. As the radio is located just above the fuel line, this quickly causes the entire vehicle to blow up.
- Vacation Episode: Well, a day trip to the seaside town of Margate, with much of the filming done on location there.
- Variations on a Theme Song: Just for this episode, the usual closing credits song "Hooky Street" was replaced by Chas & Dave's "Margate", with a montage of photos from the Jolly Boys' day out.Down to Margate! Don't forget your buckets and spades and cossies and all!
Down to Margate! We'll have a pill of jellied eels at the cockle stall! - Yuppie: While Del thinks he's one of these and likes to refer to himself as such, Cassandra's boss Stephen is the real deal but doesn't like the term. Their meeting at Cassandra's dinner party is ... awkward, but more for Stephen than it is for Del.Del: Nowadays it's the sort of game that guys like me and Stephen enjoy.
Stephen: How d'you mean, "guys like me and Stephen"?
Del: Well, you know, yuppies.
Stephen: Yup. [embarrassed grin] Derek, I am not a yuppy.
Del: You are, Stephen, you are! Guaranteed.
Stephen: No, no, really...
Del: [interrupting] Take it from me, son. You are!
[Del gives him a reassuring wink. Rodney and Alan, both of whom dislike Stephen, try hard not to laugh]
