I hadn't seen this for over 30 years, but I
remembered it very well. The production turnaround for this series was
absolutely incredible. Lennard Pearce died on 15 December 1984 and somehow
within two and a half months new scripts had been written marking the death of
a much-loved character, a new replacement character had been conceived and
cast, and these new episodes had been organised, recorded, edited and
broadcast. Under these circumstances - and with the production team still in
mourning - it’s miraculous that this was even halfway good. It’s
actually considerably more than that, although probably not the first episode
of Only Fools & Horses that many people would pick up first if they
were looking for enjoyment.
The most interesting parts are the more purely dramatic moments between the brothers, comparing their reactions to the death without their dialogue being required to do much heavy plot lifting. Oddly the thing that really made me laugh this episode was just watching a prop. After the initial emotional resonance of Del cooking a sausage and mash meal for Rodney ("No. I can't eat that. Its not like how Grandad used to make it. Its nice") the food itself is twice used again to signify other things, first being pushed away by a hung-over Uncle Albert and then, congealed, marking the passage of time into the next morning.
I've never rewatched Only Fools and Horses systematically, and have seen repeats of the early series a lot more often, so I've never really thought much about Uncle Albert in the same way that I have about the brothers. He generally seems to just be there, doing useful things to advance the story. But - especially considering the circumstances in which it was written - his initial appearance does a good job of establishing a distinctive character: The ancient mariner, teller of tall tales, a shifty cadge but someone probably ultimately benign. I'll be interested to see if any episode ever turns up which really develops or complicates the character.
The most interesting parts are the more purely dramatic moments between the brothers, comparing their reactions to the death without their dialogue being required to do much heavy plot lifting. Oddly the thing that really made me laugh this episode was just watching a prop. After the initial emotional resonance of Del cooking a sausage and mash meal for Rodney ("No. I can't eat that. Its not like how Grandad used to make it. Its nice") the food itself is twice used again to signify other things, first being pushed away by a hung-over Uncle Albert and then, congealed, marking the passage of time into the next morning.
I've never rewatched Only Fools and Horses systematically, and have seen repeats of the early series a lot more often, so I've never really thought much about Uncle Albert in the same way that I have about the brothers. He generally seems to just be there, doing useful things to advance the story. But - especially considering the circumstances in which it was written - his initial appearance does a good job of establishing a distinctive character: The ancient mariner, teller of tall tales, a shifty cadge but someone probably ultimately benign. I'll be interested to see if any episode ever turns up which really develops or complicates the character.
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