The Sky's the Limit (Only Fools and Horses)

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Only Fools and Horses episode
"The Sky's the Limit"
Series	7
Writer	John Sullivan
Director	Tony Dow
Producer	Gareth Gwenlan
Duration	50 minutes
Airdate	30 December 1990
Audience	15 million

The Sky's the Limit is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the first episode of series 7, and first broadcast on 30 December 1990.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Errors
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It's another beautiful morning at Nelson Mandela House. As Albert prepares some breakfast, Raquel exits Del Boy's bedroom to head for the bathroom without being seen. Del then tells Albert that Raquel is now sleeping with him instead of in Rodney's bedroom. This in turn reminds Albert to ask Del if he'll do something because Rodney has been drinking at the Nag's Head every night ever since he was chucked out on the street by Cassandra, who has gone on holiday to Spain with her mother Pam. Del says that he's having a chat with Cassandra's father Alan later tonight to try and solve the problem. As Del and Raquel leave, Rodney enters from the bedrooms in a completely hung-over state and asks Albert to phone the printing firm since he doesn't feel well enough to work today. Del re-enters the flat just to find the keys to the van. He also tells Rodney that Alan won't be very happy because of how Rodney's drinking and taking various days off work.

Later, at Boycie's house, he has managed to get a new satellite dish installed. Also, Marlene's brother, Bronco, has done a bit of decorating around the house, yet Boycie moans that his grandfather clock has spur-marks. Del shows up, talks to Bronco, then delivers plenty of printing paper from Alan Parry's printing firm.

That night, at the Nag's Head, as Alberts sings and plays Red Sails in the Sunset on the piano, Mike tells Trigger that last night, Rodney, Mickey Pearce, and Jevon were so drunk, they danced around pretending to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Del enters, shortly followed by Alan. They chat about how Rodney's drinking too much and pretending he's enjoying it, which is why he's been having so many days off work recently due to Cassandra leaving him. And Del believes if he keeps it up, Rodney will "be a dead-ringer for Keith Richards." Alan then mentions that when he retires and settles into his villa with Pam, he would like to leave his business in Rodney and Cassandra's hands. Del then gets a phone call from Bronco, while Trigger talks about a female road-sweeper with a funny eye.

The next day, Rodney doesn't like the idea of picking up Cassandra from Gatwick Airport, but before Del can explain to him, Boycie arrives and tells Del that someone stole his satellite dish. Del then promises to help get him a new one. After Raquel points out that there's an 11-year old in his Mercedes, Boycie abruptly exits. Del follows Rodney to the balcony, and they have a discussion about how Rodney will no longer complain about Cassandra getting a big promotion at her bank. Del then points out that he knows the manager of a luxury hotel not all that far away from the airport, where Del used to go during the mating season. Now Rodney could be set up in the best suite in the hotel, the full works. So when Cassandra flies in - all suntanned and relaxed - Rodney could be waiting with a lovely bouquet and the keys to the bridal suite. It would be a mini-honeymoon. Rodney now agrees to this idea and gives it a go. Del then points out that he can make a lot of money on a satellite dish installed on the balcony.

That night, Rodney is confident that things between him and Cassandra are going to be patched up well. But when he gets to Gatwick airport, Rodney finds out that Cassandra has landed in Manchester.

Back at the Nag's Head, things go from bad to worse for the Trotters when Boycie enters and tells Del that his satellite dish wasn't stolen, it was just taken away by engineers to be repaired, and Albert phoned Cassandra to tell her that Rodney's spending the night in a hotel.

A few minutes later, back at the flat, Rodney is not having any luck phoning Alan, since he's driving to Manchester. Just then, Del remembers that Bronco told him that he and his family are living in a small bed-and-breakfast hotel called the Hotel Schubert. Del phones Bronco, only to learn from him that the satellite dish on his balcony was stolen by Bronco from the Gatwick airport's main runway, which explains how Cassandra's plane ended up in Manchester. The Trotter brothers head for the lounge, and the satellite dish switches on, causing another plane to fly towards Nelson Mandela House as the credits begin to roll.

[edit] Trivia

The idea for the script was based on John Sullivan's holiday to Portugal, and discovering that he wasn't booked on the plane.

[edit] Errors

The studio scene on the balcony when you see the satellite dish for the first time shows a small window in the kitchen wall, yet in "Fatal Extraction", when the riot restarts due to Del's drunken singing, the outside scene shows the block of flats used for Nelson Mandela House clearly is built in a way that the door is on the side of the kitchen and not from the lounge.