Watching the Girls Go By

Last updated

"Watching the Girls Go By"
Only Fools and Horses episode
Episode no.Series 4
Episode 6
Directed by Susan Belbin
Written by John Sullivan
Produced by Ray Butt
Original air date28 March 1985 (1985-03-28)
Running time29:17 (DVD) / 29:10 (iTunes)
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Sleeping Dogs Lie"
Next 
"As One Door Closes"
List of episodes

"Watching the Girls Go By" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses . It was the sixth episode of series 4 and first broadcast on 28 March 1985. In the episode Rodney, egged on by Del, bets Mickey Pearce that he can find a date for an upcoming party and Del decides to help him win the bet.

Contents

Synopsis

At The Nag's Head, as Albert plays the piano, Del Boy is beating Boycie easily at a game of cards. As Rodney enters, Mike is handing out tickets for a party that Saturday night. Mickey Pearce believe that Rodney will not be going because he has not got a date. Rodney says that he is bringing a girl who is in show business, and he and Mickey agree to have a bet of "fifty" to prove who is right come Saturday.

Later that night, back at Nelson Mandela House, as the Trotters eat a take-away for dinner, Rodney tells Del and Albert that he lied when he told Mickey that he was bringing a girl. Del and Albert remind Rodney about the other girls he went out with, such as a Southern Areas Shot-put Champion, and a 15-year-old girl who needed an adult with her to get into the cinema.

The next night, Del phones some of his old girlfriends, but none of them are suitable for Rodney. Then, Rodney enters the lounge wearing a white jacket, a black shirt and a stripey tie, as he is hoping to get a girl and win the bet. As Albert goes off to get something, Del tells Rodney how he pictures his vision of love. Albert returns with an old photograph of a German woman named Helga. There is a story behind that photo: it was in 1946, Albert and his fellow shipmates had sailed to Hamburg to pick up some prisoners of war. Albert first met Helga in a pub near the docks, in which Helga was working as a barmaid. According to Albert, Helga was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and fell in love with her the moment he saw her. The little finger on Helga's right hand was missing, due to an air-raid bombing on her home, killing her family. When Albert asked Helga to marry her, she said no, because he mistook her gestures of friendship as tokens of love. Although it was for the best, since the authorities did not like their soldiers fraternising with the Germans and Albert was married to his wife Ada at the time. According to Albert, to this day if is ever watching a German war film and hears the word "nein", he always thinks of Helga, because it is the German word for "no". Rodney then decides to give up and pay Mickey Pearce the money, but Del buys the bet off his younger brother for £5 and promises to help get him a date for Saturday night.

Later, the Trotter Brothers arrive at a rather seedy nightclub, where Del gets reacquainted with another old girlfriend named Yvonne, an ex-stripper now turned exotic dancer with a snake. Del tells her about the upcoming party at the Nag's Head. Yvonne is eager to go, but only if she goes with Rodney. Del promises to pay her some of the money from the bet once Mickey Pearce pays up. Yvonne chats up Rodney, who successfully invites her to the Nag's Head party. Now completely confident that he is going to win the bet, Rodney tells Del that he secured a date.

On Saturday night, Del runs all the way back into the flat in a state of panic. Albert follows and warns him that Rodney is coming up the stairs to kill Del. Rodney bursts in and complains to his older brother that Yvonne started stripping after a few drinks because she has a drinking problem. Del reminds his younger brother that he did win his bet. Just as Del hopes that he is going to have £50 in his hands, Rodney hands him a 50p coin, which the bet was really for. Albert comments that he cannot wait to tell his friends that Del paid £5 for a 50p bet and Rodney went on a date with a stripper and in response, Del and Rodney quickly wind Albert up by telling him that Yvonne's snake is the hood of his duffel coat.

Episode cast

ActorRole
David Jason Derek Trotter
Nicholas Lyndhurst Rodney Trotter
Buster Merryfield Albert Trotter
Roger Lloyd-Pack Trigger
Kenneth MacDonald Mike Fisher
John Challis Boycie
Nula Conwell Maureen (barmaid)
Patrick Murray Mickey Pearce
Carolyn AllenYvonne

Related Research Articles

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

Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the long running BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.

"The Jolly Boys' Outing" is the eighth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1989. Despite being aired as a Christmas special, it is set on an August bank holiday weekend, and sees Del and the gang go on a road trip to Margate.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the final episode of Series 5, and was first screened on 5 October 1986. This is also the last episode to be 30 minutes long with all the subsequent episodes lasting 50 minutes or more. In the episode, Del's old business partner Jumbo Mills returns to Peckham and asks Del to go into business with him in Australia.

"Dates" is the seventh Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first broadcast on 25 December 1988. In the episode, Del Boy joins a dating agency and meets Raquel. Rodney also goes on a date, with Nag's Head barmaid Nerys.

"Tea for Three" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 5, and was first broadcast on 21 September 1986. In the episode, Del and Rodney find themselves battling for the affections of Trigger's niece Lisa.

"Fatal Extraction" is the twelfth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first broadcast on 25 December 1993. In the episode, Raquel leaves Del so in response he asks out another woman. When he and Raquel are reconciled, Del becomes convinced that the woman is stalking him.

"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.

"Modern Men" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the second episode of the 1996 Christmas trilogy and the fourteenth Christmas special, first screened on 27 December 1996. In the episode, Del Boy is a reading a new lifestyle book, Modern Man. Later, Cassandra suffers a miscarriage.

"Hole in One" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the third episode of series 4 and was first broadcast on 7 March 1985. In the episode, Del decides to sue the brewery after Uncle Albert falls down the Nag's Head cellar.

"Healthy Competition" is the second episode of series 3 of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 17 November 1983. In the episode, Rodney decides to leave Trotters Independent Traders and go into business with Mickey Pearce, but soon learns that it is harder than it looks.

"It's Only Rock and Roll" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 4 and was first broadcast on 14 March 1985. In the episode, Rodney joins an aspiring rock band.

"If They Could See Us Now.....!" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 2001 as the first part of the early 2000s Christmas trilogy and the sixteenth Christmas special. In the episode, the Trotters lose their fortune and Del goes on a game show to try to regain some of it.

"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.

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

"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.

"Happy Returns" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the first episode of series 4, and was first broadcast on 21 February 1985. In the episode, when Del discovers that Rodney's latest girlfriend is the daughter of an old flame, he suspects she might be his daughter.

"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.

"Three Men, a Woman and a Baby" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the final episode of series 7 and was first broadcast on 3 February 1991. This is the last episode of the last regular series, although Christmas specials were broadcast intermittently until 2003. In this episode, the birth of Del and Raquel's baby is imminent. Damien Trotter appears in the show for the first time in the episode's finale.

References