Classic Screen Scenes: Only Fools and Horses – Del & the Bar
Great films appear every year and with them are potentially classic scenes that may become more famous than the film itself. The shower scene in Psycho, the chariot race in Ben Hur, the chest bursting moment in Alien, and the opera music sounding across the prison yard in The Shawshank Redemption are just some of the examples of the classic celluloid moments that we may be familiar with even if we’ve never seen the film. I’ll be sharing my favourite film scenes, some you will know others may be unfamiliar, but hopefully they’ll be moments you enjoy as much as I do.
Only Fools & Horses (1981 – 2003) – Del & the Bar
One of Britain’s most-loved sitcoms, Only Fools and Horses might almost never have been after poor viewing figures for the first series.
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The BBC kept faith with John Sullivan though and the antics of Del Boy and Rodders gradually took hold of the UK public and by the time Christmas specials were being shown in the mid-nineties the sitcom had become a national institution. What’s the greatest moment though? It is tricky to decide. The broken chandelier, those blow up dolls, Batman and Robin, a rendition of “Crying” without the use of ‘R’ or Rodney posing as a 14 year old on a family holiday. So many great moments but one in particular never fails to make me laugh. It seems an obvious choice I’ll admit but it’s just too funny not to pick!
In the opening episode of series six entitled ‘Yuppy Love,’ Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) meets future wife Cassandra (Gwyneth Strong) at evening school while Del Boy (David Jason) has become obsessed with the film Wall Street and has decided to go all Gordon Gekko. This new lifestyle means sacrificing the local Nag’s Head for a posh wine bar across the road from where Rodders is doing a computing course. Del Boy struggles to mingle with the posh sorts and on one particular visit he is joined by Trigger (Roger Lloyd Pack).
Standing by the bar trying to find women to chat up, Del Boy suddenly draws a stare from one woman and a brief smile which seems the perfect invitation. Del Boy tells Trigger to ‘play it cool’ just as one of the staff lifts the hatch behind the bar leaving a gap! Still clutching his drink Del Boy leans back and falls through the bar. That’s funny enough on its own but Trigger really makes the scene. He turns to talk to Del and is stunned to find he’s disappeared. He looks around aimlessly for his friend just as Del emerges from behind the bar looking worse for wear but amazingly with some wine still in his glass. Trigger is briefly surprised by Del’s sudden reappearance before being told it’s time to leave as he’s cramping Del’s style! Beautifully timed and endlessly funny.
Classic Screen Scenes: Only Fools and Horses – Del & the Bar | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
