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complete series four
Rodney has two goes at love in Series Four, one for free, and one he pays for. Sadness comes when Grandad dies and a new face arrives in Mandela House. An old dog tries some even older tricks, Rodney heads for number one, Albert takes the wrong pills, and a gift from nature gets squashed at the last minute.
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Happy Returns
Transmitted: 21.2.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 15.2 million
Derek stops a young boy, Jason, from running into the road, and strikes up a friendship with the lad. It's not long before Del discovers that Jason's mother, June, is an old flame who he last saw around nineteen years ago.
While Del and June rekindle their romance, Rodders is dating a lovely girl from the newsagent called Debby - a fact that is seriously curtailing his dirty magazine fetish. It soon transpires that Debby is June's daughter, and it's almost her 19th birthday.
Del and Rodney soon put two and two together, and decide that Debby may well be Del's daughter. It gets worse when Rodney realises that he has fallen for a girl who could be his niece.
Everything comes to a head when Del finally confronts June to find out whether Debby is his daughter or not. It turns out that Debby was actually fathered by his friend Albie Littlewood, who tragically died in a cycling accident whilst he was seeing June behind Del's back.
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Strained Relations
Transmitted: 28.2.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 14.9 million
While the Trotter brothers try to cope with their Grandad's unexpected death, his funeral provides a surprise addition to their flat in Mandela House.
Among the mourners - who have come from as far away as North London - are Del's cousins Jean and Stan, and they're accompanied by Grandad Trotter's brother, Uncle Albert.
During the wake at the flat, Rodney seems disturbed by the jovial behaviour and good humour of the mourners. To distract himself he listens to salty old sea dog Albert's stories of his exploits in the Navy.
As the wake comes to an end, it appears that Jean and Stan have neglected to take Albert home with them to North London, so Del decides to let him stay the night. The next day it appears that Jean and Stan have gone for good and want nothing to do with Albert. Despite feeling sorry for the old man, Del is reluctant to let him stay and ships Albert off to the Seaman's Mission.
It's not long before Albert returns to the flat, as the Seaman's mission has been razed to the ground. So Del reluctantly lets the old boy move in, and a new era begins for the Trotters.
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Hole in One
Transmitted: 7.3.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 13.4 million
The Trotter's have fallen on hard times, largely due to Rodney's £500 investment in suntan lotion during one of the worst winters ever seen.
To make things worse, the deep-fat fryer they sold to Mike, landlord of The Nag's Head, is on the blink and the tension brings Del and Rodney to boiling point. But throughout all this trouble, Uncle Albert, who Rodders blames for their bad luck, keeps telling them that something will turn up.
As Albert leaves the pub, he accidentally falls through an open cellar door, and the Trotters' quickly come up with a way to get some cash - by suing the pub for damages.
Albert's accident claim finally makes it to court, but to the shock of Del and Rodney, it appears that their Uncle has already sought 15 identical damages claims going back to 1944. Their case gets chucked out of court, and Albert admits he was using some of the tricks he learnt as a stuntman to try and help Del and Rodney pay for Grandad's headstone.
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It's Only Rock and Roll
Transmitted: 14.3.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 13.6 million
Rodney has joined a new band, and Del immediately capitalises on this by booking them into The Shamrock Club to play for the St Patrick's night festivities.
Taking his place as the band's manager, Del winces his way through their rehearsals, and when the Shamrock gig results in a fight, the band are forced to leg it, leaving the instruments behind them.
When Rodney finds out the musical equipment has vanished, he contacts the police and helps them with their enquiries. When tell sees Rodney with the constable, he quickly distracts the officer and pulls Rodney aside. It turns out that Del had the instruments on sale or return, and he'd taken them back because their band was so bad.
Rodney's dreams of showbiz fame have been shattered, but he goes ballistic when he sees his group performing their old hit single on Top of the Pops and realises that without Del's interference he might have made it to number one.
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Sleeping Dogs Lie
Transmitted: 21.3.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 18.7 million
In an attempt to earn an easy £60 a week, Del persuades Boycie and Marlene to entrust him with the care of their Great Dane puppy, Duke, while they are away on holiday.
Whilst out on a walk, Rodney notices that the dog is a bit sluggish, and they decide to take it to the vets. Del and Rodney think that the dog may have eaten some reheated pork leftovers for breakfast, and the vet quickly informs them that Duke has probably caught Salmonella.
It's only when they get home that they realise Albert has eaten the other half of the pork, and they quickly rush him to hospital.
When Albert's gets discharged from hospital a few days later, with a clean bill of health, Del boy discovers that Rodney has been giving Albert's sleeping pills to Duke, and the dog's vitamin supplements to Albert.
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Watching the Girls Go By
Transmitted: 28.3.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 14.4 million
Rodney is taking some stick from the lads down the pub about his 'imaginary' girlfriend, and Mickey Pearce bets him fifty that he won't bring a girl to the Saturday night bash in The Nag's Head.
When Rodney admits to Del that he was lying about the girl he's going to bring on Saturday night, his big brother sets about trying to get him a date.
On the Friday night, the two brothers head out clubbing, and despite trying almost every club in London, they end up in a seedy little bar in search of a date for Rodney. As luck would have it, Del boy spots Yvonne, an old flame who he knows isn't too picky who she goes out with, and he offers to pay her part of the winnings from Rodney's bet if she'll escort his little bruv the following night.
When Rodney gets home from The Nag's Head on Saturday night he's in tears. Apparently, the date went well, until halfway through the evening when Yvonne takes centre stage in the pub and begins her act as a stripper - in front of all of Rodney's mates.
Del boy tries to console Rodders with the thought of his £50 winnings, but it turns out the bet was for fifty pence, not pounds.
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As One Door Closes
Transmitted: 4.4.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 14.2 million
The trouble starts when Del agrees to provide painter and decorator Brendan O'Shaughnessy with enough louvre doors to refit an entire housing estate in Nunhead.
Del's supplier, Teddy Cummings, only stocks and supplies in bulk, so it's up to the Trotters to find two grand by the next day or there's no chance of getting the doors.
As usual, a solution turns up in the form of Denzil's redundancy money, which they somehow convince him to part with, only to be told by O'Shaughnessy that the doors he's bought aren't needed. And to make things worse, the doors turn out to be stolen.
It's not long before Denzil and his five brothers come looking for their money, so with nowhere else to go, the Trotters visit their mother's grave - a favourite refuge for Del in times of trouble.
At their mother's graveside, Rodney notices a rare butterfly from the cover of his magazine, that's worth about £3,000 to collectors. After chasing the butterfly around the churchyard, the park and the boating lake, they finally capture it, only for Denzil to wander past and squash it. |
