The Gary episode. First broadcast 25th December 2002.
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 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 bore similarities with the plot of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. 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.
On the ferry, Del and Rodney scatter Albert's ashes into the sea. In France, they go to the village of St. Claire a la Chappelle where they meet an old soldier named George Parker. George tells them about how much of a lothario their great-uncle was; while not inclined to believe him, the brothers subsequently notice that a large number of men in the village bear a striking resemblance to Albert. After the reunion, they drive to the wine warehouse and load Denzil's lorry with duty-free booze.
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 his hair smelling of onions. Feeling guilty, Del reluctantly allows him to sleep on the sofa.
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.
While the Trotters drive Boycie to France in a van (which Del intends to fill up with more cheap alcohol), Gary is seen on a TV news report; his real name is Rashid Mamoon and 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 arrested for kidnapping.
Tropes:
- Contrived Coincidence: Gary is in fact the son of the Iranian businessman Boycie's going into business with.
- Everyone Has Standards: Albert and his shipmates were betrayed to the Germans by the French resistance because Albert was sleeping around with the local girls.
- Glad You Thought of It: Del uses this trick to get Denzil (who owns a lorry) to accompany him on his booze cruise to France. When Denzil tries to back out of it, Trigger reminds him that it was his idea.
- Lesser of Two Evils: How Boycie regards having to spend the night in the Trotters' flat; it's not great, but rather there than at Trigger's place.Boycie: Have you ever spent a night with Trigger? It's like holding a seance with Mr. Bean!
- Manchild: A downplayed example; Del is a competent, street-smart market trader who's been the family breadwinner for years ... but he does have an immature side that occasionally comes to the surface, as the following dialogue shows:Damien: Mum, Uncle Rodders says that I'll be horrible when I'm all grown up.Raquel: Oh did he?Rodney: Yeah, well, they all are aren't they? They go through that Kevin and Perry stage.Raquel: Yeah, I suppose they are a bit annoying. [to Damien] But when you reach 21 a man leaves those days behind him and matures into a responsible adult.Del: [on the phone] So, I squeezed this tube of onion puree into his hair gel! So Boycie goes to the wedding smelling like a Big Mac!Raquel: Well, that's the theory, anyway.
- Pokémon Speak: Gary, which is how he gets his nickname.
- "Rashomon"-Style: When Rashid Mamoon (a.k.a. "Gary") is shown on TV towards the end of the episode, he's describing what happened 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.
- Repeated for Emphasis: "Gary".
- Running Gag: Del pranking Boycie by mixing onion purée into his hair gel gets a few mentions throughout the episode.
- Separated by a Common Language: Rashid Mamoon (a.k.a. "Gary") can speak perfect English — but he has trouble understanding Peckham English, and repeats the word "Gary" because he genuinely can't understand what it means. Since he and the Trotters are unable to have a meaningful conversation with each other, 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.
- Shout-Out: 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 Captain Corelli's Mandolin. On learning of his promiscuity in the French village, Del quips that it was "more like Captain Birdseye's Banjo".
- Strong Family Resemblance: Del and Rodney aren't inclined to believe George's story about Albert's wartime promiscuity ... until they notice that quite a few of the older local men look rather familiar.Rodney: Dear God, it's like a geriatric Village of the Damned!Del: I dunno about St. Claire a la Chappelle; they should rename this place Trottersville!
- Titled After the Song: The title is a nod to the 1962 Acker Bilk instrumental "Stranger on the Shore".
- Translate the Loanwords, Too: Del knows the French for "duck", but can't figure out how to translate the "a l'orange" bit of his favourite French meal.
