The Jolly Boys' Outing

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Only Fools and Horses episode
"The Jolly Boys' Outing"
Series	Christmas Special
Writer	John Sullivan
Director	Tony Dow
Producer	Gareth Gwenlan
Duration	85 minutes
Airdate	25 December 1989
Audience	20.1 million

The Jolly Boys Outing is the eighth Christmas special episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1989.

1 Synopsis
2 Quotes
3 Trivia
4 Errors
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Much of the episode takes place in the seaside resort of Margate, where Del Boy and numerous Nag's Head regulars are off on their annual "Beano" (day-trip) called the Jolly Boys' Outing. The coach driver gets overcome with fumes, Rodney gets arrested for throwing a football at a policeman and Alan Parry gets sick after eating too many jellied eels. The party end up stranded in the town for the night after their coach explodes, an incident triggered by a dodgy car radio of Del's that the vehicle had been fitted with.

The Trotters end up staying at the creepy Villa Bella hotel, before Del and Rodney decide to visit a night club, where Del meets Raquel, an old girlfriend last seen in Dates, again. After reminiscing (and letting Del and Rodney stay at her flat after they are locked out of the Villa Bella) Raquel agrees to return to Peckham with him. Upon returning home, Rodney finds Cassandra and her boss, Stephen (Daniel Hill), seemingly alone together. Rodney punches him only to find that Stephen's wife is also there, and is promptly thrown out by Cassandra.

[edit] Quotes

(Del, Rodney, Uncle Albert, Cassandra, her parents and her boss, Stephen, are playing Trivial Pursuit.)

Question to Del: What is a female swan called?

(Albert hints that it's a three-letter word; Rodney rattles a Biro in his mouth)

Del: Got it. It's a bic.

Sid: I run a cafe, so why didn't you ask me to make the sandwiches?

Del: The explanation is simple. We intend to eat them.

(The Jolly Boys' coach has blown up due to Del's faulty radio. Rodney is watching the explosion from inside a telephone booth.)

Rodney: Cass, are you still there? Our coach has just blown up.

Jevon: You've got to give it to Del Boy, he did all the catering by himself.

Mickey: Leave off Jevon, can you imagine Del Boy standing in the kitchen cutting up all them loaves? He probably got some idiot to do it for him.

Trigger: No, I made them for him.

(The Jolly Boys find out that the last bus has left and the trains are on strike.)

Albert: I remember once just after the war.

Rodney: Oh don't start, Unc!

Mickey: We've had enough of your stupid stories for one day. Albert!

Del: Oi, oi, oi! Watch it! He's a war hero, he's got a right to speak!

Albert: I fought for free speech!

Del: (to Albert venomously) Shuddup!

[edit] Trivia

John Sullivan's sister-in-law Penny was the inspiration behind the script, as she told him of an event her father used to go on each year, called The Jolly Boys' Outing.
The events of this episode are mentioned in Sleepless in Peckham, implying that the Jolly Boys' Outing was a regular event from the 1960s before Del blew the coach up.
Widely considered to be the best Only Fools and Horses episode.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Errors

When Del and Rodney discuss Del's fish stall business with Jumbo Mills, Del mentions Man from Atlantis which came out long after Jumbo emigrated to Australia.
Raquel tells Del that she has no family left, but in Heroes and Villains, Raquel visits her mother and father whom she hadn't seen for years.