15^th January 1989

…. are polythene pals marooned on the back of Denzil’s lorry after their destination factory burns down. One faked delivery docket later, and they are potential ‘bunce’ in Del’s back pocket. The only snag being they are filled with dangerously flammable Propane gas…

Aside from the dolls, there are Del’s video recorders ("made in Formosa"!) and a batch of not-so-fresh Jersey tomatoes ("still got the dew on ‘em!").

Rodney’s nice sensible checked shirt and sweatshirt looks like something I’d wear. He also wears a big shouldered eighties suit later.

Rodney and Cassandra have made it to their concert at the Albert Hall (see "Yuppy Love") to see Eric Clapton, and since Del’s filofax is also back, we must presume that since the previous episode Rodney has retrieved it from the waste disposal. Mike sells the same meal to two of his customers, charging the regulars a pound for "stew" and the yuppys £3.50p for "Boef Burginoine". The whole episode, like the rest of this series, is an astute reading of the late-eighties boom under Margaret Thatcher.

Denzil and Corrine are still together, but the promise about not seeing Del seems to have been forgotten (see "To Hull and Back"). Rodney carries a pornographic magazine in his back pocket.

Del watches "City News" on ITV (traitor!). There is a curious bit of continuity when Del mentions in passing that someone from the council is due round to discuss his buying of the flat (see "Yuppy Love" again). He has arranged a date with "Simone from the cut-price Butchers. She’s got a bag of liver for us ‘an all!".

One might be forgiven from assuming him to be a real TV presenter of the time, but in fact the man reading the news in the Chinese Takeaway (who alerts Denzil to the dangerous nature of the dolls) is Louise Jameson’s partner and "Pirate Planet" and "Army of Ghosts" star David Warwick.

Dirty Barry runs a shop down the Woolworth Road, but the council have just closed him down.

"Petti Dejourney!"

Del and Albert marvel at the new video.

"I don’t know how we managed without one."

"Me neither….. what is it?"

Not forgetting "how does it know when you go on holiday?" (all the best lines for Albert in this scene)

"You can’t have dolls called Lusty Linda and Erotic Estelle!"

"You can if you go to the right shop!"

"We’ve got to do something, before the rest of the black and white minstrels pop up!"

"I’ve been lumbered here with Polythene Pam and Vinyl Vera!"

The often talked-about inflating of the dolls is one of the most famous scenes in the whole series. Myself, I prefer the trip that Del and Rodney make with them out to the van, particularly when Del makes one of them say "good evening!" to a nosey passer by.

Due to the requirements of the plot, the Trotters seem to keep a whole wardrobe full of Joannie’s clothes, twenty years after she died – very sinister. Worse, Del talks about getting them dry-cleaned! Surely this can’t be normal! The videos apparently only work on a continental power system, so how does Rodney manage to use one to record Open University by mistake?

Most glaringly of all, but I bet you’ve seen it a hundred times without realising, the ‘new’ doll that pops up right at the end is already dressed in a wig!

One of the most famous episodes, and it usually fulfils its promise today. One can get spoilt by the consistently good nature of "Only Fools" scripts, or the effortless performances, but when you think about it this is one hell of a good bit of comedy TV.