The 1990 Christmas Special. First broadcast on 25 December 1990.
Down the market, Del and Albert are trying to sell children's dolls that sing Chinese lullabies. Over at Alan's print firm, a hungry Rodney discovers that Cassandra made him a very meagre sandwich for lunch, and his new secretary refuses to go out and buy him a burger during the lunch break because an important client is due to see him. During a break, he runs into Raquel and the two talk about how his marriage is faring. Despite claiming they are happy together, Rodney implies that he and Cassandra are experiencing difficulties.
That evening, Rodney returns home, only to find that Cassandra has not prepared dinner for him and is instead going out to play badminton. They argue, and Cassandra accuses Rodney of being childish if he expects her to cook for him. Rodney subsequently storms out. Meanwhile, at Nelson Mandela House, Del and Raquel are enjoying a romantic dinner and, just as Del is about to proposition Raquel, Rodney bursts in and tells everyone that his marriage is over. Unable to sleep in his old bedroom (which is now occupied by Raquel), Rodney has to sleep on the sofa.
A week later, at a nightclub, Rodney gets drunk with his friends, which leaves Del concerned. Del tries to make Rodney see sense and return to his wife, but Rodney refuses to listen. The next day, Rodney takes the van to a garage to get the exhaust fixed and, acting on Mickey Pearce's advice to make Cassandra jealous, arranges a date with the garage's attractive receptionist, Tanya. When Rodney tells Del, Raquel, and Albert about this, they try to talk him out it, but he ignores them. Realising that Rodney's taking Tanya to the cinema opposite Cassandra's evening school (thus making it very likely that she will see them), Del goes over to Cassandra's flat to persuade her not to go to her class, and ends up breaking the bad news to her. Cassandra is reduced to tears.
Later, back at the flat at midnight, as Del tries to remove the voiceboxes from the Chinese dolls, he gets a telephone call from Rodney, who actually took Del's advice and cancelled his date. He's waiting at his flat for Cassandra, so they can be reconciled. Before Del can warn him about what he just did, Rodney hangs up. Unable to call him back, Del admits to Raquel and Albert that he told Cassandra about the date, and then quickly drives over to Rodney and Cassandra's flat. He arrives to find an angry Rodney who's just been thrown out by a furious Cassandra. With nowhere else to go, he goes back to Nelson Mandela House with Del.
Tropes:
- All There in the Script: The man who interrupts Del and Rodney's argument is named Frank.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Rodney's lament, as quoted at the top of this page.
- Bad Boss: Rodney expects his secretary Michelle to run errands for him in her own time instead of in work time.
- Downer Ending: An unusually bleak one for this show, with Rodney and Cassandra's marriage very much on the rocks.
- Hypocritical Humor: Rodney chastises Del for offending his neighbours, then yells at a woman to shut up for interrupting their argument.
- Kitchen Sink Drama: This episode focuses mainly on the strain of Rodney and Cassandra's marriage, and has an unusually downbeat ending for this series.
- Never My Fault: In an attempt to discourage Rodney from going on a date with Tanya, Del implies that Rodney is liable to get AIDS from her. An offended Raquel rants about the blatant sexism displayed and storms off. Del then turns to Rodney and accuses him of upsetting Raquel.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Rodney decides not to take Tanya on a date. But Del attempts to tell Cassandra not to attend her evening school, which is near the cinema Rodney was planning to go to with Tanya, and inadvertently comes clean about Rodney. This greatly upsets Cassandra, who angrily chews Rodney out and kicks him out. If Del had stayed out of the row, the couple would have reconciled sooner than later.
- Operation: Jealousy: Rodney follows Mickey Pearce's advice and takes Tanya from the exhaust centre on a date in order to make Cassandra jealous. This backfires horribly - Rodney doesn't go through with it, but Del tells Cassandra. Who is not pleased.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title is this to Ken Loach's 1966 TV play Cathy Come Home.
- Shout-Out The movie Rodney plans to take Tanya to is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
- Story Arc: Continuing on from "The Jolly Boys' Outing", this episode sets up a few for the seventh series, which was filmed at the same time — such as Del and Raquel's developing relationship and the ongoing difficulties in Rodney and Cassandra's marriage.
