Rodney Come Home

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Only Fools and Horses episode
"Rodney Come Home"
Series	Christmas Special
Writer	John Sullivan
Director	Tony Dow
Producer	Gareth Gwenlan
Duration	75 minutes
Airdate	25 December 1990
Audience	18 million

Rodney Come Home is the ninth Christmas special episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1990.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At a shopping mall, Albert complains to Del Boy about how Rodney should return to working for him instead of Cassandra's father Alan. They then get to work selling children's dolls that sing Chinese lullabies.

Meanwhile, at Alan Parry's printing firm, Rodney is starving, and discovers that Cassandra did a sloppy job of making him a lunch, but gets lucky when he spots Raquel with shopping bags full of delicious food. Rodney invites her into his office, and they have a nice chat about the tour that Raquel had been on between "Dates" and "The Jolly Boys' Outing", and about how Rodney's marriage with Cassandra is holding out. Then, Alan comes in, meets Raquel, and tells Rodney that Del is making money off their printing paper. Raquel leaves, and Rodney is left without anything to eat, except the sandwich he threw in the bin, which is now covered in ink.

Five hours later, Rodney returns home to his flat, expecting a big dinner, only to find that Cassandra is going out to play badminton. They argue, and Rodney storms out in a huff.

Meanwhile, at Nelson Mandela House, Del and Raquel are enjoying quite a romantic dinner, and just as Del is about to ask Raquel something, Rodney bursts in and tells everyone that he and Cassandra are through, then decides to sleep in his old bedroom, but Raquel tells him that she's sleeping there. Del explains to Rodney that he was gonna ask Raquel if she would "consider stamping [Del's] card when [Rodney] came storming in." With that said, Rodney will be sleeping on the settee.

Eight days later, at a nightclub, as Del and Raquel dance, Rodney is getting drunk with his mates Mickey Pearce and Chris. Del walks up and asks his younger brother why he just doesn't go home to his wife. Rodney just says that if he and Cassandra want to make up, then she has to phone him first. Then, Raquel asks if she could sleep with Del in his bedroom tonight due to being afraid of the dark, and Del agrees, which means Rodney can sleep in his old bedroom again.

The next evening, back at the flat, Del tells Albert that when Rodney took the Reliant Regal van down to the Peckham Exhaust Centre to get it fixed, he foolishly arranged a date with an attractive receptionist named Tania. When Rodney tells them and Raquel that he's going to see Honey, I Shrunk the Kids with Tania, Del and Albert both act horrified, although Albert does it a bit over-the-top. They then try to talk Rodney out of his date, suggesting Tania has lived with a few blokes "A darts team I heard" says Del, and go back to Cassandra, but Rodney refuses to listen.

Del goes over to Cassandra's flat and sadly breaks the bad news to her that Rodney taking Tania to the cinema to try to make her jealous. Cassandra cries, and Del tells her that Raquel will phone and help cheer her up.

Later, back at the flat at midnight, as Del tries to remove the voiceboxes from the Chinese dolls, he gets a telephone call from Rodney, who claims that he did listen to Del, cancelled his date with Tania, and has decided to wait at his flat for Cassandra, so they can kiss and make up. Del tries to warn Rodney about something, but Rodney just hangs up the phone and takes it off the hook. Del admits to Raquel and Albert that he told Cassandra, and then races over to Rodney and Cassandra's flat, while Raquel and Albert talk about Del's heart being in the right place, but not his brain.

Cassandra returns home, only to be greeted by a smiling Rodney, but the reunion is short-lived as Cassandra attacks Rodney with china and her badminton racquet, sending him flying out the door. Del arrives too late, and Rodney berates him for ruining his night. But however, Rodney has been locked out of his own home, so he has no choice but to go back to Nelson Mandela House with his older brother Del.