Sleepless in Peckham
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| Only Fools and Horses episode | |
| "Sleepless in Peckham" | |
| Series | Christmas Special |
|---|---|
| Writer | John Sullivan |
| Director | Tony Dow |
| Producer | Gareth Gwenlan |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Airdate | 25 December 2003 |
| Audience | 15.5 million |
Sleepless in Peckham is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 2003 as the third and final part of the 2000 Christmas trilogy, and as the final episode of the entire series.
[edit] Overview
A few months have passed since the Trotter brothers got out of jail for kidnapping an illegal immigrant. All seems calm and peaceful at Nelson Mandela House. Cassandra is in the late stages of pregnancy, and Rodney is soon going to become a father. Del Boy reminds him about the last time Rodney and Cassandra tried for a baby, as well as describe the fact that after Cassandra's miscarriage, Rodney "became so pale, [he] had to have [his] passport photo redone!" Then, Del, after bringing up the night Damien was born, takes Raquel's washing-up gloves and drives to the cemetery.
At the cemetery, Del is cleaning up the monument of his and Rodney's mother Joan. It is revealed that after they became rich, the Trotters used some of their money to give their mother's grave a whole new makeover. Del also talks about Trigger suggesting a portable backscratcher made out of chopsticks at the Nag's Head.
Later, at the Nag's Head, Sid tells Trigger that he got some suggestions from Mike on how to spice up the pub. He also shows Rodney, Del, Trigger, and Mickey Pearce an old photograph of the very first Jolly Boys' Outing in 1960. Del mentions the events of the last one where Del's dodgy radio blew their coach up, as well as the fact that there were no more because the coach company were afraid of losing another coach. They also notice that Marlene has been mysteriously absent over the last several weeks. Mickey and Sid quickly believe that Boycie killed her.
Back at the flat, Del helps Rodney with an idea for a movie about Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts crashing an airplane on an uninhabited island of cavepeople. Then, the next day, Rodney and Raquel berate Del for the fact that they are nowhere near the total sum of money that they owe the Inland Revenue. Del then says that if they do get evicted, then he and Raquel will go their separate ways.
Back at the Nag's Head, Sid tells everyone about the time his pregnant wife gave him nothing but hell! Then Trigger says that he sees the stars in the night sky blinking at him.
The next day, the Trotters and Trigger catch Denzil at a pizzeria and ask him if he made off with Marlene. Denzil says that he hasn't seen Marlene recently either. This prompts Del and Rodney to go straight to Boycie and ask him if he murdered his wife and buried her in the garden.
The Trotters arrive at Boycie's house, ask him, and he replies that he didn't murder Marlene. In fact, she's home and upstairs. And Boycie promises that he'll bring Marlene with him to the Nag's Head tonight. Del shouts up to Marlene, but gets no response. Boycie adds that she's sleeping.
That night, at the Nag's Head, Boycie arrives with Marlene, who shows everybody that the reason why she was absent for several weeks was to get her chest surgically enhanced! Raquel wisecracks at the sight of it, and the Boyces are forced by Sid to pay for everyone's drinks.
With only a few days left before the Trotters are evicted from Nelson Mandela House, Rodney gets an enlarged copy of the 1960 Jolly Boys' Outing photo and shows it to Cassandra at a restaurant. He shows her who was in the photo: Del, Boycie, Trigger, Denzil, Sid, Grandad, Reg -- and local gentleman thief Freddie "The Frog" Robdul, who looks a whole lot like Rodney! Rodney then tells Cassandra that Freddie is really his biological father, which explains the affair he had with Joan Trotter when Rodney was born.
Meanwhile, at the same time, back at the flat, Del tells Raquel about how he knew Freddie as "Uncle Freddie" back in the 1960s. Del also mentions that he, Reg, and Grandad knew all along that Freddie the Frog was Rodney's real father. Raquel and Cassandra both ask Del and Rodney why they don't tell each other. The same answer that the Trotter brothers give to their lovers: "Nah, it'd break his heart..."
The next morning, Del and Rodney are called to a solicitor's office and are completely worried what will happen when they both go to jail. But fortunately, the solicitor brings good news to the Trotter brothers, and it has plenty to do with their late Great Uncle Albert. The solicitor tells the two traders that prior to his death, while his nephews invested their shares of the Trotter fortune in the Central American market, Albert invested his share in a much more safer spot, and according to his will, Albert wanted to give his enlarged share of the fortune to his two nephews, leaving them with £145,000 each. Del and Rodney are both stunned by all this, but are happy. Just then, Del gets a phone call from Raquel that Cassandra's gone into labour.
With the danger of being evicted from Nelson Mandela House finally over, Del and Rodney race to the hospital. They almost end up in the wrong delivery room, but eventually make their way to delivery room #16, where Raquel and Damien wait outside. The good news is that Rodney and Cassandra are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl! As Rodney looks lovingly at his newborn daughter, Raquel asks Del what the good news he had was. Del just tells his fiancée that all those auctioneers can just go and stuff themselves now.
A couple of weeks later, Rodney and his daughter are in the cemetery, as Rodney looks up to the heavens and asks his mother that if she ever sees Albert, she will tell him that Rodney and Del said thanks. Del also shows up, and he and Rodney have a chat about Freddie the Frog. Del then tells Rodney that even though he looks like Freddie, he is not conniving, sleazy, and dishonest like his father. Finally, Del asks Rodney if he came up with a name for his daughter. Rodney just gestures to Del to look at their mother's grave, which reads: "Here lies Joan Mavis Trotter. Fell asleep 12 March 1964. Mother of Del Boy and Rodney. Grandmother of Damien and Joan." The Trotter brothers then leave and drive off in their three-wheeled van back to Nelson Mandela House.
[edit] Errors/Plotholes
- In The Frog's Legacy, Del had no knowledge of Freddie the Frog, yet in this episode, he claims to have known him when they were part of the Jolly Boys and called him "Uncle Freddie".
- During the scene where Rodney shows Cassandra the 1960 Jolly Boys' Outing photo in the restaurant, with a freeze frame - the photo Cassandra has in her hand isn't actually the one the camera shows of the individuals on the close-ups. This is very apparent if you look at where her finger is between the camera changes, when she is filming, it is just an old black and white photo but clearly not showing the characters such as Freddie the Frog etc.
- In the opening scene where Del is talking about how skinny the baby will be, he calls Cassandra Cassandrea.
