History Recap / OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS8E03TimeOnOurHands

-->'''Joan''' ''[voiced by Tessa Peake-Jones, who plays Raquel]'': Del Boy, it's time to get up! It's seven thirty! It's your fault if you've got a hangover. You can't have today off, you're taking your eleven plus!

* FreudianExcuse: Tessa Peake-Jones (Raquel) also provided the voice of Del and Rodney's mum in the sound-only flashbacks. Although this was partly done to save money, it was also done because John Sullivan felt that it was logical for Del to be attracted to someone who reminded him of his mother, whom he loved very much.

* PublicDomainArtifact: The Harrison Lesser Watch. In RealLife, as stated in the show, it was probably never made, although [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison John Harrison]] (the maritime clock inventor who polled 39th in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons'') definitely wrote out the design for it.

** Rodney briefly recalls the events of "The Unlucky Winner is..." [[spoiler: as the Trotters are [[RidingIntoTheSunset Walking into the Sunset]].]]

** Rodney briefly recalls the events of "The Unlucky Winner is..." [[spoiler: as the Trotters' walk off into the sunset.]]

* CallBack: Way back in "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS1E01BigBrother Big Brother]]", Del chastised Rodney for keeping receipts due to it leaving a paper trail. When Raquel's father asks the Trotters if they have the receipt for the watch (in order to prove that it is legally their property), Del claims that he's always been telling Rodney to keep the receipts.

* CallBack: Way back in "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS1E01BigBrother Big Brother]]", Del chastised Rodney for going through receipts due to it leaving a paper trail. When Raquel's father asks the Trotters if they have the receipt for the watch (in order to prove that it is legally their property), Del claims that he's always been telling Rodney to keep the receipts.

-->'''Del''': I'll mix you up in a minute! Wait a minute, wait a minute. If you made gravy in the coffee pot, [[OhCrap what are they pouring over their dinners in there?]]

The antique watch episode, in which they become millionaires. First broadcast 29th December 1996. With an audience of 24.35 million, this remains the most-watched non-factual programme in the history of British television [[note]] provided you don't include the figures for in-week repeat broadcasts, which have been used mostly for soaps since they were introduced in the 1980s; were you to include these, the Christmas Day 1986 episode of ''Series/EastEnders'' takes the prize, with 30.15 million viewers[[/note]]).

The antique watch episode, in which they become millionaires. First broadcast 29th December 1996. With an audience of 24.35 million, this remains the most-watched non-documentary programme in the history of British television (if you don't include figures for repeats [[note]] if you do factor in the figures for in-week repeat broadcasts, which have been used mostly for soaps since they were introduced in the 1980s, the Christmas Day 1986 episode of ''Series/EastEnders'' takes the prize, with 30.15 million viewers[[/note]]).

On their way back to the flat, the lift breaks down. After being trapped in there for some time, the two brothers have a discussion about Rodney and Cassandra's miscarriage. A distraught Rodney confesses that he has spent too much time feeling sorry for himself since Cassandra lost their baby. Del comforts Rodney by telling him that it is just "a dropped stitch in life's tapestry", and assures him that things will get better. With Rodney feeling better after their heart-to-heart conversation, Del successfully fixes the lift -- leading Rodney realise that he'd tampered with the controls in the first place, in order to force him to talk.

* CallBack: Way back in "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS1E01BigBrother Big Brother]]", Del chastised Rodney for going through receipts due to it leaving a paper trail. When Raquel's father asks the Trotters if they have the receipt for the watch, Del claims that he's always been telling Rodney to keep the receipt.

* SeriesFauxnale: This was originally intended to be the GrandFinale for the show (the episode pulling in a whopping ''24.1 million viewers''), but another trilogy would come along five years later.

* CallBack: Way back in "[[Recap/OnlyFoolsAndHorsesS1E01BigBrother Big Brother]]", Del chastised Rodney for going through receipts due to it leaving a paper trail. When Raquel's father asks the Trotters if they have the receipt for the gold watch, Del mentions that he's always telling Rodney to keep the receipt.

The watch is examined by experts, and is found to be the Harrison Lesser Watch, a semi-mythical timepiece for which designs exist but there is no clear evidence that it was ever made. It goes to auction at Sotheby's . At the auction, Del faints after hearing the opening bid of £150,000 (a full £110,000 higher than what he thought it was worth). After recovering, he and Rodney rush back into the auction room, with the bidding still going on. The latest bid is revealed to be "3.5", which they think is £350,000 but is actually ''£3,500,000'', which quickly goes up to £4,000,000, causing Rodney to faint. Later, when the two brothers are sitting in the van, Rodney reads a piece of paper which reveals that the watch eventually sold for £6,200,000 -- upon which they begin whooping hysterically, overjoyed by the fact that their dream of being millionaires finally comes true.

* SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring: Del and Rodney do this when stuck in a lift; they come up with "Walls".

Del and Rodney visit Boycie's car showroom. Unaware of their new fortune, he teases them about having their photograph taken next to the Rolls Royce. Wanting to pay his older brother back for helping him throughout his life, Rodney tells Boycie he'll buy it for £70,000 as a gift for Del, stunning Boycie into silence when he shows him proof of their new wealth. Later, the Trotters visit The Nag's Head pub, and receive a round of applause and a standing ovation from all of the regulars.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The Trotters started out from day one wishing to become millionaires one day. Del and Rodney discover a 18th century watch in the garage and manage to auction it for £6,200,000.

The antique watch episode, in which they become millionaires. First broadcast 29th December 1996. With an audience of 24.35 million, this remains the most-watched non-documentary programme in the history of British television (if you don't include figures for repeats [[note]] if you do factor in the figures for in-week repeat broadcasts, which have been used mostly for soaps since they were introduced in the 1980s, the Christmas Day 1986 episode of ''Series/Eastenders'' takes the prize, with 30.15 million viewers[[/note]]).

The antique watch episode, in which they become millionaires. First broadcast 29th December 1996.

* PetTheDog: Of the vehicular sort -- after they become millionaires, the yellow three-wheeled van is seen parked outside Del and Raquel's mansion, next to the Rolls Royce.

While Rodney is cataloguing stock in the Trotters' garage, Rodney wishes that something good would turn up in their lives. Del says that life is not like that. To illustrate his point, he picks out an old pocket watch from among the junk, and tosses it onto a gas cooker.

On their way back to the flat, the lift breaks down. After being trapped in there for some time, the two brothers have a discussion about Rodney and Cassandra's miscarriage. A distraught Rodney confesses that he has spent too much time feeling sorry for himself since Cassandra lost their baby. Del comforts Rodney by telling him that it is just "a dropped stitch in life's tapestry", which he claims their late mother Joan used to say whenever things went wrong, and assures him that things will get better. Rodney agrees and is finally at peace with the situation, and Del suggests that Rodney goes home and has a heart-to-heart with Cassandra. Once the conversation is over, Del successfully fixes the lift himself, and gets it working again. Only then does Rodney realise that Del had in fact tampered with the controls, in order to force Rodney to talk.

That evening, James and Audrey arrive for the meal, and all appears to be going well. However, whilst moving the coffee that Albert has prepared in the kitchen, Del discovers that it is actually gravy, and thus the "gravy" that the guests are pouring on their dinners is in fact coffee -- ruining the dinner. When picking up his car from the Trotters' garage the following day, antiques dealer James spots the old pocket watch, which he notes is engraved "Harrison". He suggests that it may be the work of John Harrison, the man who designed and built the world's first successful maritime clock in the 18th century.

The watch is examined by experts, and all accept it to be the Harrison Lesser Watch, a semi-mythical timepiece for which designs exist but there is no clear evidence that it was ever made. It goes to auction at Sotheby's and after hearing the opening bid of £150,000 (a full £110,000 higher than Del's highest estimate), Del promptly faints. After recovering, he and Rodney rush back into the auction room, with the bidding still going on. The latest bid is revealed to be £3,250,000; it then goes up to £3,500,000 (which Del thinks is £350,000). It then rises to £4,000,000 and Rodney, too, faints. It emerges that the final bid was £6,200,000 (around £3,100,000 each). Later, the two brothers begin whooping hysterically, overjoyed by the fact that their dream of being millionaires finally comes true.

The antique watch episode, in which they ''become millionaires''. First broadcast 29th December 1996.

The watch is examined by experts, and all accept it to be the Harrison Lesser Watch, a semi-mythical timepiece for which designs exist but there is no clear evidence that it was ever made. It goes to auction at Sotheby's and after hearing the opening bid of £150,000 (a full £110,000 higher than Del's highest estimate), Del promptly faints. After recovering, he and Rodney rush back into the auction room, with the bidding still going on. The latest bid is revealed to be £3,250,000; it then goes up to £3,500,000 (which Del thinks is £350,000). It then rises to £4,000,000 and Rodney, too, faints. It emerges that the final bid was £6,200,000 (around £3,100,000 each). "We've had worse days", states Del, when Rodney re-reads the Sotheby's statement in the van, and the two brothers begin whooping hysterically, rocking the van with their overjoyed lunacy as their dreams of being millionaires finally comes true.

-->'''Joan''' [voiced by Tessa Peake-Jones, who plays Raquel]: Del Boy, it's time to get up! It's seven thirty! It's your fault if you've got a hangover. You can't have today off, you're taking your eleven plus!
-->'''Grandad''': Your dad always said that one day Del Boy would reach the top. Then again he used to say that one day Millwall would win the Cup! (from "Big Brother" - the first-ever episode)
-->'''Reg''': I never raised a hand to your mother Rodney, except in self-defence! (from "Thicker than Water")

The watch is examined by experts, and all accept it to be the Harrison "lesser watch", a semi-mythical piece for which designs exist but there is no clear evidence the watch was ever made. It goes to auction at Sotheby's and after hearing the opening bid of £150,000 (a full £110,000 higher than Del's highest estimate), Del promptly faints. After recovering, he and Rodney rush back into the auction room, with the bidding still going on. The latest bid is revealed to be £3,250,000; it then goes up to £3,500,000 (which Del thinks is £350,000). It then rises to £4,000,000 and Rodney, too, faints. It emerges that the final bid was £6,200,000 (around £3,100,000 each). "We've had worse days", states Del, when Rodney re-reads the Sotheby's statement in the Reliant van, and the two brothers begin whooping hysterically, rocking the van with their overjoyed lunacy as their dreams of being millionaires finally comes true.

Del and Rodney visit Boycie's car showroom and, unaware of their new fortune, he teases them about having their photograph taken next to one of his new Rolls Royces. Wanting to pay his older brother back for helping him throughout his life (including getting over Cassandra's miscarriage), Rodney pays £70,000 for the car as a gift for Del, stunning Boycie into silence when he shows him proof of their new wealth. Later, the Trotters visit The Nag's Head pub, and receive a round of applause and a standing ovation from all of the regulars.

The final scenes, against a backdrop of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song "Our House", show the Trotters enjoying their new life. Del and Raquel move into a mansion while Rodney and Cassandra buy a luxury apartment on the banks of the River Thames. They buy Uncle Albert an expensive yacht, which he promptly crashes into a bridge on the river.

Del sombrely returns to their now empty flat in Nelson Mandela House, and quietly recalls the memories from the flat over the years, hearing quotes from their mother Joan (from a specially recorded voiceover), their father Reg (from "Thicker Than Water"), and Grandad (from "Big Brother"). Rodney also returns, and Del reveals that he is already beginning to miss the old life as a market trader. Albert returns to the flat to get some of his belongings as well to have one last look, and the three leave, though not before Del has answered a call from Lenny Norris offering them 250 carpet steamers. Del is initially eager, but Rodney reminds his older brother that they are not in the business any longer. Del poignantly tells Lenny that "Trotters Independent Traders has ceased trading."

The three men decide to walk to the local Chinese restaurant for a meal. As they set off, Del states that rather than the end for them, it is only just the beginning as they should now invest their new money in the futures market (making one last claim that this was one of the many things his mother Joan said, on her deathbed). The three continue to playfully argue about this as they walk off into an animated sunrise, as Del proclaims that it is their "big chance", and ending with the closing refrain: "This time next year, we could be billionaires!".

-->'''Joan''': Del Boy, it's time to get up! It's seven thirty! It's your fault if you've got a hangover. You can't have today off, you're taking your eleven plus!
-->'''Grandad''': Your dad always said that one day Del Boy would reach the top. Then again he used to say that one day Millwall would win the Cup! (from "Big Brother")

* GrailInTheGarbage: The Trotter's become millionaires after the missing John Harrison Watch (which in real life, exists only as plans and may never have been built), ends up being found in their garage. Del likewise mentions he got it from an old woman who paid him to clear an attic.
* {{Irony}}: The Trotters try to get rich through a litany of {{zany scheme}}s, with the running CatchPhrase "This time next year, we'll be millionaires!" They eventually do when a long lost John Harrison maritime watch is found in their shed, an item erroneously dismissed by Del as a Victorian egg timer. They had that priceless watch all along, they were just too incompetent to realise it.
* LockedInAFreezer / LockedInARoom: Del Boy deliberately stops an elevator in order to force Rodney to open up to him about his wife Cassandra's miscarriage. As a nod to the frequency of the trope, Del then repairs the lift, revealing that it was never broken in the first place.

* PublicDomainArtifact: The Harrison "lesser watch". In RealLife, it was probably never made, although [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison John Harrison]] (the maritime clock inventor who polled 39th in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons'') definitely wrote out the design for it.

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: "Our House" by Music/CrosbyStillsAndNash has been replaced by a cover version sung by Helen Ruddy.