Only Fools and Horses

[Mike Bull]

'Video Nasty'. To be fair, on this occasion this one struck me as being better than I usually give it credit for- there's some great stuff in it. I used to think it a bit scuzzy- involving soft(?) porno tapes etc- but it is SO of it's era- it just made me think of video rental shops, the bloke who used to come to our door with a milk crate full of tapes, all that.

Plus of course, we all want to watch 'There's A Rhino Loose Somewhere In The Sticks Where No Sod Lives', don't we?!

I've also finished the series with 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?', so it's 'Royal Flush' next...oh boy.

[Dene Kernohan]

I've said this on here before but...I like A Royal Flush, very much.

I always remember Harry H Corbett stating that "my character wouldn't say that" was the death of acting.

David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst are at their absolute best here. And as for Del-boy being a boorish drunk, ruining Rodney's relationship: it's a TV show. You should explore fictional characters to their limits. And families do some horrendous things to each other, and get over it. Plus: Rodney and Victoria were going nowhere. That's made obvious.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect DJ and NL loved making this ep. In all the fallout over it across the years, I've never heard them knock it.

It's also a very strong contrast to To Hull and Back, showing how rich in variety OFAH could be.

It's not perfect, e.g. the opera scene is too long, and it ends on a rather sour note. But I absolutely love it. And the gags are top whack.

""Burke's"... Teach yourself book, is it?"

[theboosh]

John Sullivan himself regretted writing Del that way, which is the ultimate indication that it was a flawed script.

You're quite right that Rodney and Victoria would never have worked out in the long term, but Del absolutely humiliates the poor lad. If the audience knew Del was being deliberately disruptive to protect Rodney, however misguided, it may have worked better, but as originally broadcast Del just comes across as a c**t.

That said, the sawn-off shotgun scene is absolute gold.

[Bodie]

I kind of like the episode. My memory of that dinner table scene is that her father actually makes some comment about Rodney being just another plaything for her. If the audience would have seen Del also hearing that comment, the whole scene would have made much more sense. I don't think anything excuses that weird 'handshake' ending though.

[rigsby]

It’s the ending that really leaves a bad taste - I think it could have worked with a more conciliatory ending but for Del to behave that way is really hard to take. There are some great moments on the way though even if while it’s nice to have both versions, in this case the edited version probably works better

[Mateja Djedovic]

There are a few good scenes in A Royal Flush but, for the most part, it just doesn't work for me. The ending is really bad for multiple reasons. Everyone rightly criticises Del Boy's behaviour, but the way Vicky is written is so confusing. Everyone claims she was stringing Rodney along (which would make her pretty awful as well), but we never actually SEE any evidence of that. The ending would have worked much better if we SAW Del Boy cotton on to her deceit and had that motivate his behaviour in the ending. I also think the ending would have gone down better if we knew that Del Boy had a plot all along. Otherwise, it just makes him appear cartoonishly stupid. His behaviour at the opera only makes sense if he was intentionally trying to break Rodney and Vicky up. Otherwise, it's just too much, even for Del. I'd sooner expect such behaviour from Trigger than a Trotter. If anything, Del would be going around trying to pretend like he owned the place.

Also, I think the episode is enormously harmed by the lack of a laugh track. Unlike "To Hull and Back" which was shot with that in mind, "A Royal Flush" is full of awkward pauses as the actors wait for a non-existent audience to stop laughing. It's really evident in the film inserts like the first meeting between Rodney and Vicky. It throws off the comedic timing and makes an already uncomfortable episode even harder to sit through.

But, yeah, that ending is just awfully mean-spirited. Especially, Del twisting Rodney's injured arm, which is just not funny in my opinion. The first rule of slapstick is that you never show anyone getting injured and Rodney is clearly in pain at the end there. Anyway, there's never been any physical abuse from any of the Trotters before or since. Lots of empty threats but nothing nearly as nasty as that.

On the positive side, however, Jack Hedley gives what is probably my favourite guest performance in all of OFAH. The way he loses his shit with Del at the end always leaves me in stitches. It's the funniest scene in a very grim episode for me and it's not even written to be funny.

[Mike Bull]

Maybe I'll just skip it after all, LOL...

[DazMack1979]

Hedley’s “Harlem bloody Globetrotters” line is probably the only genuinely funny moment in that episode for me.

[Mike Bull]

Well, I watched it. It's okay, middling-level OFAH until the dinner scene, which is where it truly goes to shit, and the hand squeeze is definitely a poor moment.

[Pob]

'Video Nasty'. To be fair, on this occasion this one struck me as being better than I usually give it credit for- there's some great stuff in it. I used to think it a bit scuzzy- involving soft(?) porno tapes etc- but it is SO of it's era- it just made me think of video rental shops, the bloke who used to come to our door with a milk crate full of tapes, all that.

Plus of course, we all want to watch 'There's A Rhino Loose Somewhere In The Sticks Where No Sod Lives', don't we?!

I've also finished the series with 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?', so it's 'Royal Flush' next...oh boy.

Video Nasty strikes me as a bit of a "Hot Rod" tester.

[Mike Bull]

'The Frog's Legacy'.

Pretty much perfect, this one- only let down in the future by the continuity it establishes being messed with by Sullivan himself.

[Joe Dredd]

we all want to watch 'There's A Rhino Loose Somewhere In The Sticks Where No Sod Lives', don't we?!

Someone wrote and published "Lady Don't Fall Backwards", the detective novel with the missing page from Hancock's Half Hour. This could be your chance to be an auteur!

[Mike Bull]

'Dates'- now we're starting to shift towards the new era of the show, with this special that is just about perfect in all respects; Jason and Peake-Jones are superb together, both as they first date and click and then as they deal with the truths that are revealed later on. Great stuff.

[Mike Bull]

'Yuppy Love'. A classic of course simply due to THAT scene, but this is a nice episode overall that feels like a gentle reboot of the programme; a lot of the back history is laid out in the opening flat scene such that you could pretty much start watching here if you've not seen the show before. After a while I found that Gwyneth Strong could get a bit annoying as Cassandra, but here on her debut she's lovely.

[Mateja Djedovic]

'Yuppy Love'. A classic of course simply due to THAT scene, but this is a nice episode overall that feels like a gentle reboot of the programme; a lot of the back history is laid out in the opening flat scene such that you could pretty much start watching here if you've not seen the show before. After a while I found that Gwyneth Strong could get a bit annoying as Cassandra, but here on her debut she's lovely.

She was great in that season. I only start finding her annoying when Sullivan starts writing her as the nagging, sarcastic wife. To be honest, she's not the greatest of actresses but she was a terrific fit for the character as written in season 5.

I think of Dates as the soft reboot point. "Frog's Legacy" pretty much winds up the old-school gags and guffaws style with Del Boy's aspirations sinking into the ocean. "Dates" moves the show more towards relationship drama, family dynamics, and a laidback pace. It's a shift for the (even) better, in my opinion, but others' mileage may vary. "Dates" is also probably my favourite episode overall (along with "To Hull and Back", which really could have been released as a feature film). I just love Del and Raquel's relationship in that particular episode. It's beautifully written and TPJ's performance is wonderfully heartfelt. As real and emotionally affecting as any sitcom's ever gotten.