Hole in One

Del and a wheelchair-bound Albert.

Detailed sypnosis

Four weeks have passed since Albert first moved in with Del Boy and Rodney, and things are not good for them financially. It is the worst winter in over "two million years", and Rodney has foolishly made an investment in £500 worth of sun tan lotion.

At the Nag's Head, as the Trotters pass by the open door into its cellar, Mike wants a word with Del about the deep-fat fryer he sold him. Inside, Rodney suggests that they try making money out of nothing.

Suddenly, a loud crash is heard, and the Trotter brothers race into the cellar to find that Albert had fallen down through the cellar's open door. Del hatches a plan when Albert says "I've got a right mind to sue the brewery!" He also tells Rodney to phone Solly Attwell, the Trotter family's solicitor.

Back at Nelson Mandela House, Solly tells Del and Rodney that there's nothing wrong pyshically with Albert after his accidental fall, but suggests that it may have hurt him mentally. And the Brewery has agreed to take the Trotters' great uncle's fall to court.

At the courthouse, Del and Rodney tell their sides of the story, hoping that they get their money from this, but when a wheelchair-bound Albert comes up to tell his side of the story by faking amnesia a lot, the Brewery's barrister reminds Albert about a lot of cases similar to this one, all involving Albert Gladstone Trotter and they all took place after the war. Not only that, but Albert underwent basic parachute training on the Isle of Wight, where he learned how to fall off things without injuring himself.

Later, outside the courthouse, the Trotter brothers berate Albert for what he did, but Albert explains that whenever he and Grandad were short of money, Albert would fall down a hole. And the reason why Albert fell down the cellar at the Nag's Head in order to gain compensation was to pay for Grandad's headstone, because when they were children, Grandad used to look after Albert, and Albert never got the chance to pay his older brother back. Del Boy and Rodney forgive Albert for what he did, and wheel him home in his wheelchair, shortly before Del realizes that Albert can walk.

Stats

Season: 4
Writer: John Sullivan
Director: Susan Belbin
Producer: Ray Butt
Duration: 30 minutes
Airdate: March 7, 1985
Audience: 13.4 million

Featured characters

• Del Boy
• Rodney
• Uncle Albert
• Mike
• Maureen (barmaid)
• Solly Atwell
• Mr. Fraser
• Mr. Gerrard

Other notes

Story arc

• The Trotter family's address is revealed to be 368 Nelson Mandela House, Dockside Estate, Peckham.
• Albert's middle name is revealed to be Gladstone.

Episode concept

• The idea for the script was based on a true story about John Sullivan's grandfather, a coal-man named Dickie, who claimed compensation by falling down holes.

Continuity errors

• In the previous episode "Strained Relations", Del believes that Albert causes bad luck, Rodney disagrees. In this episode, Rodney says that Albert is bad luck and Del thinks Rodney is talking rubbish.
• During the court case, the judge says that the Trotters live at 368 Nelson Mandela House, yet in "Time On Our Hands" while Del and Rodney are stuck in the lift, as Denzil and Mickey Pearce take furniture out of the Trotters' flat, the door number is clearly 127.
• After the court case, Albert tells Rodney and Del that every time himself and Grandad were short of some money, Albert just fell down a hole. In the court case, it was revealed that the incidents occurred after the war. In "Tea for Three", Albert said that he and Grandad didn't speak to each other after they met and fought over Ada. In "Miami Twice", Albert revealed that he left Ada behind when he went to war, so Albert clearly met Ada before the war and therefore couldn't be speaking to Grandad after the war when they allegedly worked together falling down holes. But clearly they did work on this together, as Albert says so, meaning he was (as usual) exaggerating when he said him and Grandad never spoke again.

Production goofs

• The exterior of the Nag's Head is very different to that of the Nag's Head exterior which is later seen in "Miami Twice" and "Fatal Extraction" where the Trotter van pulls up outside a very spick modern pub.
• When Solly Atwell is speaking to Del and Rodney in the flat about Albert falling down the Nag's Head celler, he says the line "He must have landed on something soft," When Solly says this, the camera shows Rodney sitting at the table with a glass of beer in front of him. He picks it up and then says to Solly "Yeah he did, the landlord." But the next camera angle shows the glass of beer on the table instantly without Rodney having put it down. This therefore clearly showed that this particular scene was cut at the point of Rodney saying his line and then later resumed.

Del and a wheelchair-bound Grandad.

Miscellaneous trivia

• This episode was originally written for Grandad and meant to be the Season 4 opening episode, but unfortunately, Lennard Pearce passed away from a heart attack after the filming of Grandad falling down the Nag's Head cellar and the courthouse scene. The episode was put on hold after Christmas 1984, and "Happy Returns" and "Strained Relations" were written and filmed as the first two episodes for the season. Once Buster Merryfield joined the cast, the scenes with Grandad were re-shot with Albert (the only shots of the Grandad version kept in the Uncle Albert version were Mike looking up at Grandad) The rest of the original footage has never been transmitted, and is not available on DVD.
• The shot of the Nag's Head exterior was filmed at 267 Kensal Road, W10, London.

Previous episode: Strained Relations
Next episode: It's Only Rock and Roll