The canary episode. First broadcast 22 December 1983
Del wants revenge on Brendan O'Shaughnessy, a painter and decorator who mis-sold him a tin of paint. He senses his opportunity when Brendan reveals he is decorating the front room of Del's friend, Denzil. Del visits Denzil and, after making a false claim about Brendan having caused a fire at a house he worked at, gets the job for himself — much to the disapproval of Denzil's wife, Corrine.
The next day, Del, Rodney, and Grandad arrive at Denzil's flat and put the kettle on for a cup of tea, ignoring Corrine's instructions to stay out of the kitchen. They accidentally leave the kettle on the hob for too long, filling the kitchen with steam. After the steam disperses, they find Corrine's pet canary dead. Grandad goes to a pet shop and buys a new canary for £45. When Corrine returns, she's shocked, and not just at the fact that the Trotters have wrecked her kitchen; her canary, now seemingly alive, had died that morning.
Later on in the pub, Brendan announces that he will be taking over the job of decorating Denzil's flat. Then, the Trotters meet the pub's new landlord, Mike Fisher, and convince him to increase the brewery's bill of £1,000 for Brendan to redecorate the pub to £2,000 for Del to do the job. Mike is bemused since the first offer was cheaper, so Del explains to him that from that money, he and Mike would take £500 each and give the other £1,000 to Brendan to do the job. Mike, in the knowledge that it would cost the brewery and not him, warmly agrees, and Del goes to speak with Brendan.
Tropes:
- Characterization Marches On: Denzil is portrayed as a stereotypical Jive Turkey. This was thankfully dropped in favour of making him an unlucky everyman.
- Crooked Contractor: Having lost the job of painting Denzil's flat, Del offers his services when Mike says the brewery wants the pub painted. Brendan's already said he'll do it for £1,000, but Del counterbids with an offer of two grand.Mike: Hang about, hang about. Why should I turn down an offer of £1000 and accept one of £2000?
Del Boy: 'Cos of all the advantages it has to offer, like my unique profit-sharing scheme. The two thousand pounds would be disbursed thus: Five hundred pounds for vous, and five hundred pounds for ve.
Mike: What, you mean I get five hundred quid?
Del Boy: Oh, yes.
Mike: And what about the thousand that's left over?
Del Boy: We give that to the Irishman and let him do the job! - Dead Pet Sketch: When painting Denzil's flat, Rodney accidentally creates a sauna in the kitchen by leaving the kettle on too long. The Trotters find Corrine's beloved canary pining for the Fjords and go to a lot of trouble and expense to substitute it with another one. Corrine gets a hell of a shock when she returns home to find it alive and well, because it was dead when she left the flat that morning.
- Foreshadowing: Corrine is married to one of Del's close associates, but clearly doesn't trust him. Several years later, along came Cassandra, who was also noted for not trusting Del but nevertheless married someone close to him.
- Jive Turkey: Denzil in his first appearance only, as it was immediately realised what a bad idea this was.
- One-Shot Character: Corrine, Denzil's no-nonsense wife who doesn't trust Del any further than she can throw him. It was intended for her to become a regular supporting character, but sadly Eve Mottley (the actress who played her) died shortly after this episode; John Sullivan decided not to recast the role, leading to Corrine becoming an unseen, but occasionally referred to, character.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Del, it seems, is this to Denzil. Corrine can list the many times Del's screwed him over and conned him into joining one of his failed get-rich-quick schemes, to which Denzil's only response is: "but he's a mate".
- You Get What You Pay For: Denzil hires Del and Rodney to paint his kitchen because they're so much cheaper than a professional painter.
