The actual last episode, in which Rodney becomes a father and finds out the truth about his own parentage. First broadcast 25th December 2003.
All seems calm and peaceful at Nelson Mandela House, although the deadline for the Trotters to pay what they owe to the Inland Revenue is fast approaching. Cassandra is in the late stages of pregnancy, which means Rodney will finally become a father. Del takes Raquel's washing-up gloves and drives to the cemetery to clean the monument of his and Rodney's mother, Joan (after they became millionaires, they used some of their money to give her grave a makeover).
Meanwhile, in the Nag's Head, Sid shows Rodney, Trigger and Mickey Pearce an old photograph he found of the first-ever Jolly Boys' Outing in 1960. It's noted that Marlene has been mysteriously absent for several weeks. Mickey and Sid reckon Boycie killed her. Back at the flat, Del helps Rodney with a seemingly nonsensical idea for a film.
Del, Rodney and Trigger run into Denzil, who's also not been seen much of late, and ask him if he ran off with Marlene. Denzil says that he's actually been in hospital. Now believing that Boycie has murdered Marlene, the Trotters go to his place to confront him. He replies that she's actually asleep upstairs, and promises that he'll bring her to the pub later. When they arrive, it is apparent to everyone that the reason for Marlene's absence was that she was getting her breasts enlarged. Raquel wisecracks at the sight of it, and Boycie and Marlene are tricked by Sid into paying for everyone's drinks.
Rodney and Raquel berate Del because they are nowhere near the total sum of money that they owe the Inland Revenue, and non-payment will result in them getting evicted from the flat as it's their only asset. Del is deeply hurt by some of Raquel's comments, and after she goes to lie down he privately says to Rodney that if they do get evicted, he and Raquel will likely go their separate ways.
Rodney gets an enlarged copy of the 1960 Jolly Boys' Outing photo (which he'd ordered as a present for Del) and shows it to Cassandra at a restaurant. He shows her who's in the photo — Del, Boycie, Trigger, Denzil, Sid, Roy Slater, Grandad, Reg ... and local gentleman thief Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Rodney. Rodney tells Cassandra that this is proof that Robdal is his real biological father, which he has long suspected. However, he does not want Del, who idolised their mother, to know. Meanwhile, back at the flat, Del finds the original photo and concludes that Rodney has learned the truth. He tells Raquel that only Joan, Uncle Albert and Trigger's Aunt Reenie knew that Robdal was Rodney's real father. Del had his suspicions for many years but did not believe it until Albert told him after getting drunk; he subsequently decided that he would never tell Rodney. Raquel and Cassandra both ask Del and Rodney why they will not tell each other. The Trotter brothers answer that doing so would indeed break the other's heart.
The next morning, Del and Rodney are called to see a solicitor named Mr. Cartwright, something they have been trying to avoid as they think that he is acting on behalf of someone they owe money to, and they can't afford to pay up. But Mr. Cartwright actually wants to see them about another matter — he's the executor of Uncle Albert's will. The old sea-dog never spent his share of the Trotter fortune but invested it in a far more stable area than his great-nephews did ... and he's left it to them, allowing them to pay off the tax people and have a fair amount to spare. Almost immediately afterwards, Del gets a phone call from Raquel that Cassandra's gone into labour. Del and Rodney race to the hospital, where Cassandra has delivered a baby girl by a Caesarean section.
A few days later, Rodney takes his daughter to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave. He looks up to the heavens and voices his hope that she and Freddie the Frog really loved each other. He notes his regret that he never really knew her, as well as his hope that his daughter will grow up to be like her. As Del pulls up, Rodney then says that if she ever sees Albert, Joan should tell him that Rodney and Del said thanks. Del arrives and asks Rodney if he come up with a name for his daughter. Rodney tells Del to look at their mother's grave, which now reads:
As they prepare to leave the cemetery, Rodney asks Del if he is anything like his father, Freddie the Frog. Del replies firmly by saying that Robdal was "a womaniser, a home-breaker, a con-man, a thief, a liar, and a cheat. So, no Rodney, you're nothing like him." They then leave the cemetery to drive home to Nelson Mandela House, during which Rodney says that he has no intention of continuing to write his movie, which Del gladly agrees with.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod: Since this was the last-ever episode, there were a few.
- Rodney takes his baby daughter to visit his mother's grave, which has been restored a lot more tastefully than that time Del gave it a new coat of (luminous) paint in "The Yellow Peril".
- Del and Rodney trying to write a seemingly nonsensical movie script (involving Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts crashing an aeroplane on an island inhabited by The Flintstones) is reminiscent of Del's equally nonsensical movie idea (entitled There's a Rhino Loose in the City) in "Video Nasty".
- Mention of Aunt Reenie calls to mind "The Frog's Legacy" which was the only episode in which she appeared. Turns out, she knew much more than what she let on about Joan's relationship with Freddie Robdal.
- "The Jolly Boys' Outing" gets a nod when Sid finds a photo from the original Jolly Boys' Outing, which happened in 1960. We also learn that the one from the titular episode was the last Jolly Boys' Outing, as the coach company wanted nothing more to do with Del after the coach blew up thanks to the dodgy radio he'd installed.
- Del's still in trouble with the Inland Revenue following the collapse of the Trotters' fortune at the start of "If They Could See Us Now".
- Dead Girl Junior: Rodney and Cassandra name their daughter Joan, after Rodney's mother.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The Trotters have had a year to raise £48,754 to pay off their debts. They do so, with £290,000 left over, thanks to Uncle Albert's will. Also, Rodney and Cassandra finally have a baby, having previously suffered a miscarriage.
- Genre Shift: While still having plenty of comedic moments, this episode had a far more serious atmosphere than most of the series.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Sid makes this claim when looking at himself in the photograph of the 1960 Jolly Boys' Outing.
- Identical Grandson: We see a picture of Freddie "the Frog" Robdal, previously hinted to be Rodney's real father — and it's Nicholas Lyndhurst with a moustache. Even Del, who believes his mum to be a saint, can't ignore the resemblance. Lyndhurst would go on to reprise the role in the Prequel series Rock & Chips.
- It Makes Sense in Context: Trigger's message for Del takes some beating. Even viewers who know what's going on (he'd previously told Del about a new invention of his — a back-scratcher made from chopsticks) may be just as bemused as Raquel is after the following exchange.Trigger: Raquel, can you pass a message onto Del Boy?Raquel: OK.Trigger: Tell him there's been a bit of a setback. My paraffin heater melted the chopsticks. I might have to go to a Chinese shop. He'll understand.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Uncle Albert's will and investments recovering a fair sum of Del and Rodney's lost fortune can count as such. They were the only of a long line of Trotters willing to let Albert find a home with them, and he certainly shown his gratitude in death.
- Mistaken for Murderer: Marlene's not been seen for a while, prompting Del and Rodney to wonder if Boycie's murdered her. They ask him outright, and he indignantly denies it ... but's he's only indignant because they think he's buried her in the back garden.Boycie: How dare you! Murdered my wife and buried her in the garden? I have never been so insulted in my life! You know how much I've spent on that garden! You think I'm going to dig a hole in it?
- Noodle Incident: Perhaps it's for the best, but we viewers never saw Uncle Albert get drunk at a wet corset contest.
- Riddle for the Ages: How exactly did Uncle Albert know that Freddie Robdal was Rodney's real father? This one wasn't cleared up in Rock & Chips, which shows Joan's affair with Freddie but does not feature Albert in any way...
- Secret-Keeper: Del, it turns out, has known the truth about Rodney's parentage for years, and has even figured out how Aunt Reenie conspired to keep Rodders from ever finding out.Raquel: And you've known all these years?Del: No. At least, not when Rodney was a baby. When you get to 20, and your 6-year-old brother is taller than you, it makes you think. I never knew really who he was. As a youngster, I was told to call him "Uncle Fred". Then a few years back, Uncle Albert got drunk at an old folks' do — It was a wet corset contest. Anyway, he told me all about Freddie and my mum. I don't know if you noticed, but there are no photographs of my mum in this house, except for a couple of close-ups.Raquel: I assumed your dad had taken them when he left.Del: No. He only used to take money and things that he could sell. Then Uncle Albert told me. It was my Aunt Reenie who sorted it all after Mum's funeral. You see, every picture of Mum included Freddie Robdal, and Aunt Reenie knew that as Rodney got older, people would start to see the stimularities, so she burnt them.
- Shout-Out: The title is this to Sleepless in Seattle.
- Straw Feminist: While generally not too obnoxious about it, Raquel does have a habit of ranting about how all men have it easy in life, and how only women ever truly suffer. The phrase "only women bleed" is actually said in this episode, to Del's annoyance as he never had it easy because he had to raise his brother while earning the money that kept the family afloat.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Rodney looks exactly like his dad. Who was not the man who was married to his mother.
- Story Arc: A long-runner in the show has been the question of Rodney's parentage. It was hinted as long ago as "Thicker than Water" that Reg Trotter may not have been his father, and the possibility that he was the result of an affair between his mother and Freddie "The Frog" Robdal surfaced in "The Frog's Legacy". Now, the truth is revealed — Freddie the Frog was indeed Rodney Trotter's biological father.
- Talking to the Dead: Rodney does this towards the end when he visits his mother's grave.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Rodney mentions not having been born in July 1960, when Del was 15. Del later mentions that by the time he was 20, his six year-old brother was taller than him. This suggests Rodney was born and aged six years in the same time period that Del aged five years (ie. from 15 to 20). Then again, it's Del and his exaggerating ways.
