Friday the 14th

Last updated

"Friday the 14th"
Only Fools and Horses episode
Episode no.Series 3
Episode 3
Directed by Ray Butt
Written by John Sullivan
Produced byRay Butt
Original air date24 November 1983 (1983-11-24)
Running time29:41 (DVD/iTunes)
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Healthy Competition"
Next 
"Yesterday Never Comes"
List of episodes

"Friday the 14th" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses . It was the third episode of series 3, and was first screened on 24 November 1983. The episode sees Del Boy, Rodney and Grandad travelling to Boycie's weekend cottage in Cornwall intending to do some illegal fishing. Once there, they are unnerved when they learn that an axe murderer has just escaped from the local psychiatric hospital. The scenario unfolds with their uncertainty of the night ahead and the goings on outside of their residence.

Contents

Synopsis

In another one of his get-rich-quick schemes, Del Boy has struck a deal with Boycie and a fish restaurant owner which will involve himself, Rodney, and Grandad staying at Boycie's weekend cottage in Cornwall and bribing the local gamekeeper to allow them to poach salmon, with the restaurant owner offering £10 for each salmon caught. Rodney is sceptical at first but is bribed by the payment.

They arrive in Cornwall during a heavy thunderstorm and are stopped by a policeman, who informs them that the storm has brought the power lines down, causing a power outage in the area. He also warns them that a convicted axe-murderer has taken advantage of the power cut and escaped from a local psychiatric hospital, where he was imprisoned for having killed a group of fishermen exactly ten years earlier.

Shaken but undeterred by the story, Del forces them to continue onwards to the cottage. Rodney becomes paranoid and claims to have seen a movement in the trees, and finding an axe in the cupboard, but Del stops him from phoning the police. Later that night, after an argument over a game of Monopoly, Rodney opens the curtains of the front window to look outside and is confronted by a man on the other side staring through the window. Rodney is unnerved but the others are reluctant to believe him when he tells them. Eventually they are interrupted by a man calling at the door, whom they allow in when he introduces himself as Chief Robinson, the head of security from the institution, and shows them his identification documents.

Reassured by the man's insistence that the escaped patient will be far from the cottage, Del feels confident to use the outside toilet. When leaving the toilet, he opens the door and accidentally knocks out the man whom Rodney had seen at the window earlier.

Assuming this man is the escaped patient, Del alerts Rodney and Grandad, who tie up and take the unconscious man to the local police station, leaving Del and the head of security at the cottage. The police quickly identify the man not as the escaped murderer, but as the local gamekeeper. The police also reveal that the real chief of security is in hospital. The escaped patient had attacked him, knocked him unconscious and stolen his uniform and ID documents, meaning Del is alone in the cottage with the real axe-murderer.

Back at the cottage, Del receives a phone call from Rodney informing him of the truth, leaving a frightened Del to experience the manic side of the murderer alone. The murderer reveals that he hates people who kill fish and inquires about the fishing rods, but Del lies to him. The situation is defused however when the murderer proposes that he and Del play a game of snooker together, albeit an imaginary one with no cues or table and insisting that he hates to win in competitive games, giving Del a chance to bide his time until the police arrive. Del seizes on the murderer's aversion to winning by proposing they play for money, and the episode ends with the pair beginning their game. [Note 1] [Note 2]

Episode cast

ActorRole
David Jason Derek Trotter
Nicholas Lyndhurst Rodney Trotter
Lennard Pearce Grandad Trotter
Christopher Malcolm Chief Robinson/Axe Murderer
Ray MortPoliceman
Michael StaintonPolice Sergeant
Bill WardGamekeeper

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Boy</span> Fictional character

Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, Rock & Chips. He was played by David Jason in the original series and was portrayed as a teenager by James Buckley in the prequel. Del Boy is often regarded as one of the greatest comedy characters in the history of British television, and is regarded as an iconic character in British culture. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 Del Boy was ranked fourth on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boycie</span> Fictional character from Only Fools and Horses

Herman Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by John Challis. His story is continued in the spin-off series The Green Green Grass in which Boycie and his family flee to the countryside to escape from the Driscoll Brothers. A younger Boycie also appears in the prequel series Rock & Chips. Along with Denzil, he is one of only two characters to appear in all three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzil Tulser</span> Fictional character from Only Fools and Horses

Denzil Tulser, is a character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Paul Barber.

"To Hull and Back" is the fourth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show and also the first special not to feature or mention the holiday of Christmas itself in the episode. Parts of the special were shot on location in Amsterdam and unlike most other episodes was shot entirely on film and not before a studio audience. In the episode, the Trotters agree to smuggle diamonds from Amsterdam for Boycie.

"Strained Relations" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the second episode of series 4, and was first screened on 28 February 1985.

"May the Force Be with You" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fifth episode of series 3, and was first screened on 8 December 1983. In the episode, the despised DCI Roy Slater returns to Peckham and arrests the Trotters for stealing a microwave.

"Little Problems" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the final episode of series 6, and was first screened on 12 February 1989.

"A Losing Streak" is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. In the episode, Del Boy plays a high-stakes game of poker with Boycie. Also, this is the only episode in the series in which Boycie serves as an antagonist.

"Go West Young Man" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the second episode of series 1, and was first screened on 15 September 1981. This was the lowest rated episode of the entire series, with only 6.1 million viewers. In the episode, Del sells a faulty car to an Australian man.

"Strangers on the Shore...!" is An episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 2002 as the second part of the early 2000s Christmas trilogy, the seventeenth Christmas special and the 63rd episode of the series.

"Sleepless in Peckham...!" is the final episode of BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was first screened on 25 December 2003 as the third and final part of the early 2000s Christmas trilogy, and as the eighteenth and final Christmas special. It was the last Only Fools and Horses-related episode until the Sport Relief special in March 2014.

"A Slow Bus to Chingford" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fifth episode of series 1, and was first broadcast on 6 October 1981. In the episode, Del acquires an old double decker bus and decides to give tours around London.

"From Prussia with Love" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the first episode of Series 5, and was first broadcast on 31 August 1986. In the episode, the Trotters meet a pregnant German girl and invite her to stay at the flat.

"Wanted" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the sixth episode of series 3, and was first broadcast on 15 December 1983. In the episode, after an incident with a local woman, Del Boy pretends that Rodney had been dubbed the 'Peckham pouncer' and is being hunted by the police, so Rodney goes on the run.

"Video Nasty" is the fifth episode of series 5 of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first broadcast on 28 September 1986. In the episode, Rodney receives a grant to make a local film, but Del sees it as an opportunity to make money.

"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fifth episode of series 7, and was first broadcast on 27 January 1991. In the episode, Uncle Albert comes home claiming to have been mugged and, thinking he has become a burden, decides to leave Nelson Mandela House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Done It My Way</span> 7th episode of the 4th series of The Green Green Grass

"I Done It My Way" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It aired on 19 February 2009, as the seventh episode of the fourth series. This episode acted as a 'clip show' for both Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass. In total, the episode contained around forty clips, some of which were made specially for this episode. When series 4 was released on DVD, both separately, as well as part of a box set, the episode was left out, because of the archive clips. Even digital comedy channel Gold refuse to show the episode because of this, and is not available to watch on any catch-up services, including BBC iPlayer.

"Five Gold Rings" is the second episode of the Rock & Chips trilogy and the series' only Christmas Special. It was first aired on 29 December 2010.

<i>Fingers at the Window</i> 1942 film by Charles Lederer

Fingers at the Window is a 1942 mystery film directed by Charles Lederer and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

References

  1. In the 2015 novel He Who Dares... , it is revealed that Del "was up to forty quid by the time the police came crashing through the windows."
  2. The 2016 book The Peckham Archive reveals the murderer's name to be Charles "Chopper" Winters