Mother Nature's Son (Only Fools and Horses)
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| Only Fools and Horses episode | |
| "Mother Nature's Son" | |
| Series | Christmas Special |
|---|---|
| Writer | John Sullivan |
| Director | Tony Dow |
| Producer | Gareth Gwenlan |
| Duration | 65 minutes |
| Airdate | 25 December 1992 |
| Audience | 20.1 million |
Mother Nature's Son is a Christmas special episode of the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 25 December 1992.
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[edit] Synopsis
There is a large Christmas party at the Nag's Head, and the entire Trotter family and all their friends are having the time of their lives - at least until Rodney holds little Damien up to a mirror to find that he has no reflection.
Rodney wakes up from this dream in a cold sweat back in his own bed with Cassandra at 7:00am, and tells her about how he and Del Boy haven't flogged a single thing in months.
At Nelson Mandela House, Raquel asks Del to remove all of his hooky gear from Damien's room. After telling Rodney that he has bought the flat off the council, Del suggests taking all the hooky gear to Grandad's allotment.
When they get to Grandad's allotment, the Trotters discover barrels filled with an unknown yellow substance. Trigger shows up to examine them, but he can't determine what the substance is either. Del enlists Trigger and Denzil to help him get rid of the yellow liquid by sending it to the council depot. After finding the depot depot to be closed, Denzil and Trigger get rid of the yellow liquid by dumping it in a river.
Meanwhile, Del follows Rodney to an organic health food shop run by a nature lover named Myles. When he sees the high cost of food and water at the store, Del suddenly develops a green thumb and asks Myles if he could come to Grandad's allotment to give him some advice on how to grow some vegetables for his family. At the allotment, Del shows Myles a mysterious watering hole called the "Peckham Spring". However, Rodney notices that the 'spring water' is actually coming from a nearby tap which is connected to a hose and concealed by rocks. Albert pretends to take a sample, but instead just puts some mineral water into a sterilised baby bottle (which he 'just happened' to be carrying). After testing the water, Myles, excited upon having found a "natural urban spring", gives Del the green light to sell it to the public.
Three weeks later, the Trotters are filling up bottles of Peckham Spring Water from the tap in Del's kitchen. Rodney is completely convinced that they will soon be caught, but Del just shrugs it off, delighting in the profit they are making.
As a result of selling public water to the public (a scheme helped by fears of a major water leak due to the high volume of water that the Trotters are using, leading to panic buying), the Trotters earn an enormous sum of money, enough for a Christmas weekend in Brighton.
A few nights later, Del, Raquel, Damien, Rodney, and Cassandra arrive at the Grand Hotel in Brighton and get all settled in for a weekend to remember.
Later, with Damien fast asleep, Del and Raquel, and Rodney and Cassandra go to bed. Meanwhile, a BBC News report shows that the Thames River has been contaminated by the same yellow liquid that Del Boy carelessly dumped. As a blissfully unaware Del switches off his bedside lamp he comments to Raquel that in a few days, the Trotters will be in all the papers. As his bottle of Peckham Spring glows an eerie yellow, we can't help but agree with him...
[edit] Episode cast
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[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Debate continues as to whether or not Robbie Williams appears as an extra in a scene in the Nag’s Head during this episode, this strong rumour is fuelled further as the music playing in the background is a Take That track.
- This episode was featured heavily in the media for a time after Coca Cola imitated the plot with its Dasani product - bottled water which was found to have been tap water from Kent. In a further irony given Del's dumping of the unknown barrels into the reservoir, levels of chemicals above legally permitted limits were discovered to be present in Dasani water.
- In the scene where the Trotters check in to the hotel in Brighton, the porter is carrying Del Boy's leopard skin suitcase. This however, looks like the same suitcase that was stolen in "Miami Twice".
- One of the very few episodes to have a post-productional visual effect - The glowing of the contaminated water and substance on Trigger and Denzil's hands.
[edit] Episode concept
The idea for the script was based on a real-life incident where people had their water supply closed as something had been dumped in a nearby reservoir.[1]
[edit] Errors
- At the start of the episode where Rodney is having his dream, when he is holding Damien in his arms up to a mirror, it shows the reflection. Rodney is holding his arms the wrong way.
- After Del makes his bacon sandwich while talking with Rodney about his problem, Albert enters the kitchen, face covered in Weetabix, picks up the sandwich, but he doesn't eat it.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Miami Twice (part two) |
Only Fools and Horses 25 December 1992 |
Succeeded by Fatal Extraction |
