Chain Gang (Only Fools and Horses)
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| Only Fools and Horses episode | |
| "Chain Gang" | |
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|---|---|
| Series | 6 |
| Writer | John Sullivan |
| Director | Tony Dow |
| Producer | Gareth Gwenlan |
| Duration | 50 minutes |
| Airdate | 22 January 1989 |
| Audience | 16.3 million |
Chain Gang is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the third episode of series 6, and was first screened on 22 January 1989.
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[edit] Synopsis
During at a night at the One-Eleven Club, Rodney introduces Cassandra to Del Boy. They also meet Arnie, a retired jeweller from Lambeth who's married with two sons, Gary and Steven. He also interests the Trotters in 250 gold chains, which will be sold to a gangster named Mr. Maxi Stavros.
Del, Rodney, Albert, Boycie, Trigger, and Mike purchase the chains by accident, but decide to let Arnie go through with his deal with Mr. Stavros.
At an Italian restaurant, Arnie, carrying a briefcase filled with money from the Trotters and their friends, sits down and waits for Mr. Stavros. Del and Boycie keep an eye on him from another table, while Rodney and Albert wait outside in the the Trotter van, backed up by Mike and Trigger who are in Mike's car.
Suddenly, Arnie starts to have a heart attack, and collapses on the floor. Boycie, pretending to be a doctor, tries to get the case off, but receives a punch on the nose from a big Greek man. Del is able to save both his and Boycie's skins by pretending to be a police officer. The ambulance arrives, but Mike's car has been clamped. Rodney and Albert zip down the road after the ambulance in the Trotter van, leaving the others stranded.
Back at Nelson Mandela House, Rodney and Albert return home to say that they lost the ambulance at St. Steven's Hospital at the Fullham Road. Although Del originally berates them for having lost it, Rodney replies that there was no way they could have followed the ambulance to its final location - in an emergency, ambulances are allowed to go through red traffic lights. As Del suggests that the group either phone around every hospital in London or visit them personally, in the hopes of finding out where Arnie ended up, they then get a phone call from an Indian doctor at Arnie's ward. The doctor gives the bad news that Arnie passed away. Del promises to call Arnie's wife, Patricia, and arrange the funeral - but the doctor refuses to give Del the address to Arnie's house, and hangs up. Wondering what else to do, Rodney suggests that he'll go to Lambeth and look for Arnie's name on the electoral list, but that does not happen because neither he, Del, nor any of the others know Arnie's surname (plus, as Trigger points out, Arnie had only just moved from Lambeth and would not yet be on the electoral list). But Albert has an idea: seeing as Arnie last used it to ring his wife, they could use the redial button on the Trotters' phone, and then discuss arrangements with his wife. Del gives it a try, but comes up short because Rodney phoned the Highcliffe Hotel, Guernsey, because Cassandra is taking a training course there. Now that means that all is lost for Del and Co.
A few days later, while picking up Cassandra at the airport, Rodney spots Arnie again, being carried into the same ambulance.
At the Nag's Head, Del, Rodney, Albert, Mike, Boycie, and Trigger realise that Arnie is a conman who tricks prospective buyers into giving him their money, then fakes a heart-attack before the fabricated deal can go through. The group then reason that Arnie would have no trouble in acquiring an old ambulance driven by his two sons, which would be the perfect getaway vehicle for such deals; not only can it clear traffic through use of its siren, but it can also legally go through red lights. Del also notes that he had previously spoken to the manager of the Italian restaurant, who had noted that once Arnie's ambulance had left, the real ambulance arrived. Trigger wonders what Mr. Stavros has to do with all of this; Del and Rodney explain that Mr. Stavros never existed. Shortly after, they hear that Denzil and his brothers have become the latest victims of Arnie's scam.
The next day, at an Indian restaurant, Denzil and his brother Carl are keeping an eye on Arnie from a nearby table. Meanwhile, Gary (who was revealed to be the voice of the "Indian doctor") and Steven are standing by in their ambulance, waiting for their father to pull off his "dying swan" act. Arnie does so, but when he gets loaded into the ambulance, Arnie finds himself surrounded by Del, Rodney, Albert, Mike, Boycie, and Trigger, all disguised as ambulancemen - in a clever double-cross, Del and his friends have bought their own ambulance with which to capture Arnie. Once Arnie's sons arrive at the restaurant, they are apprehended by Denzil and his brothers. Del goes to use vicious-looking bolt cutters on a very frightened Arnie as the credits begin to roll.
[edit] Episode cast
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[edit] Errors
- While being introduced to her by Rodney at the One-Eleven Club, Del tells Cassandra that he remembers her father, Alan, by saying "Little fella, one blue eye, one brown, talks with a squint, walks with a stutter." Cassandra replies "That's him!" However, when Alan is first seen in "Little Problems", that is clearly not the case, as Del had no idea who Alan was and was lying as a joke and Cassandra jokingly agreed with what he was saying.
- Boycie puts up seven grand in the flat, yet outside the Italian restaurant after he's been punched, this has grown to "seven and a half grand in unlaundered money" according to Del.
[edit] Story Arc
- In this episode it is revealed that Denzil has established a new company, Transworld Express. This company is mentioned in a number of later episodes, such as "Mother Nature's Son" and marks a permanent career change for the character.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Danger UXD |
Only Fools and Horses 22 January 1989 |
Succeeded by The Unlucky Winner Is... |
