The Sky's the Limit (Only Fools and Horses)

"The Sky's the Limit"
Only Fools and Horses episode
Episode no.	Series 7 Episode 1
Directed by	Tony Dow
Written by	John Sullivan
Produced by	Gareth Gwenlan
Original air date	30 December 1990 (15 million[1] viewers)
Running time	50 minutes 49:57 (DVD)

"The Sky's the Limit" is an episode of the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses. It was the first episode of series 7, and first broadcast on 30 December 1990.^[1] In the episode, Del acquires a satellite dish for Boycie, unaware that it has been stolen from Gatwick Airport.

Synopsis

It's another beautiful morning at Nelson Mandela House. As Albert prepares some breakfast, Del Boy then tells his uncle that Raquel is now sleeping with him instead of in Rodney's bedroom. Albert then asks Del if he'll do something because Rodney has been drinking at The Nag's Head every night ever since he was thrown out of his flat by Cassandra, who has gone on holiday to Spain with her mother Pam. Del says that he's having a chat with Cassandra's father Alan later tonight to try and solve the problem. As Del and Raquel leave, Rodney enters from the bedrooms completely hung-over and asks Albert to phone the printing firm since he does not feel well enough to work today. Del re-enters the flat just to find the keys to the Trotter van. He also tells Rodney that Alan is not very happy with Rodney's drinking and taking various days off work.

Later, at Boycie's house, he has managed to get a new satellite dish installed. Also, Marlene's brother, Bronco, has done a bit of decorating around the house, and although he has done a good job, Boycie has complained about it to get out of paying him. Del shows up, talks to Bronco, then delivers printing paper from Parry Print Ltd.

That night, at the Nag's Head, as Albert sings and plays "Red Sails in the Sunset" on the piano, Del enters, shortly followed by Alan. They chat about how Rodney's drinking too much and pretending he is enjoying it, which is why he has been having so many days off work recently due to Cassandra leaving him. Alan then mentions that when he retires and settles into his villa with Pam, he would like to leave his business in Rodney and Cassandra's hands. Del then gets a phone call from Bronco.

The next day, Rodney does not like the idea of picking up Cassandra from Gatwick Airport, but before Del can explain to him, Boycie arrives and tells Del that someone stole his satellite dish, and as it was reported seen on the estate asks Del to buy it back if offered it. Del follows Rodney to the balcony, and Rodney says that he will stop complaining about Cassandra's big promotion at her bank, as he wants their marriage to go back to how it used to be. Del then points out that he knows the manager of a luxury hotel not too far away from the airport. So when Cassandra flies in, Rodney will be waiting to take her to the bridal suite. Rodney now agrees to this idea. Del then points out that a satellite dish installed on the balcony, which he got from Bronco and that he is intending to give back to Boycie in return for money.

That night, Rodney is confident that things between him and Cassandra are going to be patched up well. But when he gets to Gatwick airport, Rodney finds out that Cassandra's plane has been rerouted and she has landed in Manchester.

Back at the Nag's Head, things become more worse for the Trotters when Boycie enters and tells Del that his satellite dish was not stolen, it was just taken away by engineers to be repaired, meaning the dish Del acquired was not Boycie's. Albert appears to tell Rodney that Cassandra has phoned and he has told her that Rodney's spending the night in a hotel booked under the names "Mr. and Mrs. Trotter", thus giving the impression Rodney is with another woman. Rodney decides to phone Alan so he can explain the truth to Cassandra.

A few minutes later, back at the flat, Rodney is not having any luck phoning Alan, since he is driving to Manchester. Meanwhile, Del is trying to remember where Bronco lives to ask where he got the satellite dish from. He eventually remembers that Bronco told him that he and his family are living in a small bed-and-breakfast hotel called the Hotel Schubert. Del phones Bronco, only to learn from him that the satellite dish was stolen from Gatwick Airport's main runway, causing international chaos throughout Europe, which explains how Cassandra's plane ended up in Manchester. The Trotter Brothers head for the balcony, and as they do so, the dish switches on and a huge 747 airplane flies towards Nelson Mandela House. The episode ends with the Trotter Brothers huddling together while yelling, "Switch it off!" This final image led to repeat broadcasts of the episode being temporarily pulled around the time of the 9/11 attacks.

Episode concept

• The idea for the script was based on John Sullivan's holiday to Portugal, and discovering that he was not booked on the plane.^[2]

Errors

• The studio scene on the balcony when you see the satellite dish for the first time shows a small window in the kitchen wall, but in "Video Nasty", the kitchen wall is blank. Also in "Fatal Extraction", when the riot starts due to Del's drunken singing, the outside scene shows the block of flats used for Nelson Mandela House clearly is built in a way that the door is on the side of the kitchen and not from the lounge.

Music

• Kylie Minogue : Step Back in Time (sung by Uncle Albert)
• The Floaters : Float On
• Paula Abdul : Opposites Attract
• Paula Abdul : Straight Up
• Magnum : Reckless Man

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Sky's the Limit

• "The Sky's the Limit" at TV.com
• "The Sky's the Limit" at BBC Online
• "The Sky's the Limit" at BBC Programmes
• "The Sky's the Limit" at the Internet Movie Database