Only Fools and Horses Chsitmas Special

**Zak33** · 29-12-2003, 11:30 AM

was, for the first time in a couple of years.....WORTH its weight in GOLD

My word.....I really didnt think it would be much at all....I didn't like the last 2 Christmas Specials.....they "lost" Del and Rodney somewhere in the writing....

BUT this one was, in my humblest...funny, sad and "hairs on the back of your neck" at the last minute, when it all comes together for the borthers at last.

Anyone else nearly sob

?

Angus · 29-12-2003, 11:36 AM

I'm with zak on this one

BRILLIANT!!!

**Agent** · 29-12-2003, 12:34 PM

Yup, loved it

Zathras · 29-12-2003, 01:59 PM

Couldn't stand it myself. Virtually no story and the actors carried what was a very poor script.

Howard · 29-12-2003, 03:47 PM

Average at best compared to the others

It was more like a drama than a comedy.

**Zak33** · 29-12-2003, 04:01 PM

blimey...THATS a conflict of ideas

I thought it was immensely well written.....good interlocking story form YEARS back, with Freddie the Frog.

Made my day to watch that.

lynni · 29-12-2003, 05:49 PM

Wasnt the last one when they won their million meant to be the last ever ever ever one? so is this one the last one for ever and ever ever? i have to agree with zak tho, it was funneh... altho they always are, i grew up on that programe :-)

Howard · 29-12-2003, 06:25 PM

I was looking forward to watching it, and yes it was the highlight of my Boxing day, but it was nowhere near as good as the older episodes. It just wasn't as funny and well written IMHO. :\

Stewart · 29-12-2003, 10:07 PM

Originally posted by Zak33
blimey...THATS a conflict of ideas

I thought it was immensely well written.....good interlocking story form YEARS back, with Freddie the Frog.

Made my day to watch that.

Yeah, but it was a dodgy hatchet job, to get the Freddy the Frog story woven into the main plot again.

Basically, back in the day, when 'The Frogs Legacy' was aired, Trigger's Aunt Renee sat Del down and told him all about Freddy, and the gold, etc, etc. At the time, Del had no clue who Freddy was, and needed to be told that he used to go out with his mom.

He was also portrayed as a good bloke; lovable rouge, a geezer.

Spin on to this Christmas special - now all of a sudden, Del knows all about Freddy (this is explained by Uncle Albert telling Del about it before he died), but now, for some reason, Del refers to Freddy in the past, during a conversation with Racqel, when he was going out with his mom.

He talks about calling him 'Uncle Freddy', and seeing him around a lot. So, if he called him Uncle Freddy, and saw him around all the time, why, when Renee mentioned him, did he not have a clue who he was?

I mean, at the time he has never heard the name 'Freddy the Frog' or 'Freddy Robdal' before in his life, now, he is talking about a man who was around so much, that he started calling him Uncle Freddy.

You get the feeling that John never bothered to re-read the script for the Frog's Legacy, to check for continuity. No big deal, but it gives the plot a feeling of forced dramatisation. Anything to engineer the big finish.

Also, as I said, he was a lovable rouge, a scoundrel with a smile; at the end of this special, Rodney asks Del if he was anything like Freddy, and Del (who now knows all about Freddy, of course, despite the fact that he'd never heard the name before, when the Frogs Legacy aired), says 'Freddy Robdal was a liar, a cheat, a thief, a sneak', etc, etc.

What happened is this; during the last set of 'last show ever' shows, the writer needed a big send off, and he went for the obvious one - the Trotters become millionaires after all those years.

Problem is, the 'last show ever' wasn't. So, now we have again arrived at the 'last show ever' a new big thing is needed, but the best one has already been used up.

Result? Re-hash some story-line from an age ago, because in that show it is hinted at, that Rodney's dad may be Freddy, and not Reg Trotter. Change a few details, to make it more dramatic, or help the story flow, and there you go.

Of course, Del could have found out from Uncle Albert what Freddy was really like, but this has been hacked together from bits of old plots, to give an excuse for the big revelation at the end.

I thought the show was very average. Not a patch on the true classic Fools and Horses, like 'To Hull and Back', or the 3 specials when it should have ended, last time around.

Whilst a great show, and an all-time classic, it’s obviously run its course now, and its time to say goodbye, on the bombshell of the frog’s legacy being more than a coffin full of gold, buried at sea.

sdp · 30-12-2003, 07:14 PM

I thought a lot of the jokes were really forced and especially in the first ten minutes they spent ages building up to a 'punchline' such that I almost switched the telly off in disgust.

I wasn't too bothered about the story line, but I thought they could have saved their flat in a much more interesting/funny way.

**Zak33** · 31-12-2003, 02:52 PM

Vaul....you're RIGHT mate....Iforgot that about Irene telling Del about him as he's never heard of him.

Well spotted dude

Stewart · 31-12-2003, 03:42 PM

Originally posted by Zak33
Vaul....you're RIGHT mate....Iforgot that about Irene telling Del about him as he's never heard of him.

Well spotted dude

The wonders of being a fan of the show, and UK Gold showing the Frog's Legacy not too long ago.

Sair33 · 03-01-2004, 06:01 PM

Originally posted by Vaul
Yeah, but it was a dodgy hatchet job, to get the Freddy the Frog story woven into the main plot again.......

I know, I know.... I tried to ignore that!!! .... I thought it was still really funny compared to the other Christmas specials though.... (although I don't think the "long" episodes will ever be as good as the earlier 30 minute ones) and I KNOW the Freddie The Frog thing didn't quite make sense... BUT... it still made me laugh, so I will forgive them!!!!

Stewart · 03-01-2004, 10:44 PM

I just can't ignore things like that... I think it all comes from being a big fan of Red Dwarf, which has the worlds worst plot continuity by far.

Now this sort of stuff irritates me. I mean, how hard can it be to write a story that doesn't go against any facts established in earlier shows?

CrimsonAvenger · 05-01-2004, 04:56 PM

in a word - lame

Sad really, as some of the other xmas specials have been pretty high up the list of my faves.

Dorza · 05-01-2004, 07:58 PM

The xmas specials are no where near as funny as the series. Its kind of lost its way a bit imo. Shame really cos its a really really good prog, was any way.

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