Yuppy Love

"**Yuppy Love**" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, *Only Fools and Horses*. It originally aired on 8 January 1989 and is the first episode of series six, marking the start of the increase in running time from thirty minutes to fifty minutes per episode.

## Synopsis

While Rodney is busy studying for his computer course, Del Boy (who had recently seen the film ***Wall Street***, and has decided to dress exactly like its lead character, the ruthless corporate high-flyer Gordon Gekko, thus adopting a new "yuppy" image, donning a striped shirt and red braces, and carrying a filofax and a silver briefcase) explains his plans for the flat. He intends to buy it from the council and sell it on for a profit. When Rodney protests that council houses were not made for profit, Del accuses his younger brother of not trying to get on in life. On their way to the adult education centre, Del shows Rodney the posh houses in *The King's Avenue* as something to strive for.

At the evening course, Rodney fails to impress a girl named Cassandra Parry. He thinks his luck is changing when Cassandra approaches him again, but it's only because she accidentally got his coat. She realised it was Rodney's coat when she saw his name written inside the collar. An embarrassed Rodney accepts a lift home from Cassandra, but Del shows up just in time to collect his brother. (Del has been spending his time in a nearby wine bar.)

Annoyed with the evening's events, Rodney turns down Del's offer of a night out and goes to a local nightclub to see his friends Mickey Pearce and Jevon. Del returns to the wine bar where he bumps into Trigger. An attempt to impress some ladies fails as Del takes a nasty fall.

At the nightclub, Rodney is surprised to see Cassandra having a drink with her friend Emma. Mickey and Jevon tried to charm Cassandra earlier, but they get nowhere. They accept a bet from Rodney that he will be able to dance with Cassandra. To their surprise, Rodney succeeds. At the end of the evening Cassandra offers to give Rodney a lift home again. He accepts, but has to take Mickey along.

They stop at Emma's house first. Rodney gets more embarrassed about his own residence as he sees the beautiful house Emma lives in, so Rodney tries to make Cassandra believe he lives in the King's Avenue and lets her drop him off at a large house there. Then Rodney has to walk home, in the pouring rain, wearing the wrong coat again.

Back at the flat, as Uncle Albert prepares some dinner, Rodney comes in soaking wet, and Del tells him that he knows what happened to his younger brother tonight, as Del had been in a similar situation when he dated the daughter of a rich oil baron from Texas in America.

When Del leaves the room for a minute, Rodney takes revenge for his humiliation by throwing Del's filofax in the rubbish. Then Albert asks Rodney whether he has called Cassandra yet, since she apparently called earlier, explaining that she wanted to bring the coat back to the house in the King's Avenue, making Rodney realise that Mickey told Del everything. Del reminds Rodney that it's best to not gamble because you never know when the cards have been stacked, as well as Cassandra would still like to meet up with Rodney again.

Relieved, Rodney asks for Cassandra's telephone number, which Del replies that he wrote it down in his filofax, causing Rodney to rush down to the rubbish chute.

## Featured characters

* Del Boy
* Rodney
* Uncle Albert
* Cassandra (first appearance)
* Trigger
* Mickey Pearce
* Jevon
* Emma

## Other notes

### Episode concept

* The script was based on Gordon Gekko from the movie ***Wall Street***, to reinvent a new image for Del, and bring in Cassandra and Raquel into the series.

### Production goofs

* When Rodney is going to his evening class, he is wearing a black suit. Rodney attends class, then tells Del that he isn't going back to the flat ("Not with Albert there"). But when Rodney goes to the disco instead, dances with Cassandra, gets dropped off at the King's Avenue in the rain, then comes home soaking wet, he is wearing a grey suit.
* David Jason nearly slips out of character when Rodney chases him around the sofa after fooling him out of a bet. He starts to chuckle when he says, "Now, stop it...!"
* As mentioned in previous episodes, Boycie and Marlene live on The King's Avenue. But when their house is shown, it appears to be on a completely different street.

### Continuity errors

* Mickey says that Nelson Mandela House is on the Nyerere Estate, but in previous episodes (such as "Hole in One"), characters have said that Nelson Mandela House is on the Dockside Estate. Then again, characters have also said that Nelson Mandela House *is* actually on the Nyerere Estate.

### Miscellaneous trivia

* The scene where Rodney is dropped off at a posh area called The King's Avenue is based on a real-life occurrence for John Sullivan as a schoolboy.
* The building that BBC used for the wine bar is the same building they used in "Fatal Extraction" for the One-Eleven Club. It is known as the Old Granary in Welsh Back, Bristol.

### DVD cuts and edits

* The part at the disco where Rodney asks Cassandra for a dance is cut from the DVD Region 2 version.

"Go West Young Man" ·
"Cash and Curry" ·
"The Second Time Around" ·
"A Slow Bus To Chingford" ·
"Ashes to Ashes" ·
"A Losing Streak" ·
"No Greater Love" ·
"The Yellow Peril" ·
"It Never Rains..." ·
"Healthy Competition" ·
"Friday the 14th" ·
"Yesterday Never Comes" ·
"May the Force Be with You" ·
"Wanted" ·
"Strained Relations ·
"Hole in One" ·
"It's Only Rock and Roll" ·
"Sleeping Dogs Lie" ·
"Watching the Girls Go By" ·
"The Miracle of Peckham" ·
"The Longest Night" ·
"Tea for Three" ·
"Video Nasty" ·
"Danger UXD" ·
"Chain Gang" ·
"The Unlucky Winner Is..." ·
"Sickness and Wealth" ·
"The Chance of a Lunchtime" ·
"Stage Fright" ·
"The Class of '62" ·
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle" ·
"Diamonds Are For Heather" (1982) ·
"Thicker than Water" (1983) ·
"Licensed to Drill" (1984) ·
"To Hull and Back" (1985) ·
"A Royal Flush" (1986) ·
"The Frog's Legacy" (1987) ·
"Dates" (1988) ·
"The Jolly Boys' Outing" (1989) ·
"Rodney Come Home" (1990) ·
"Miami Twice" (1991) ·
"Mother Nature's Son" (1992) ·
"Fatal Extraction" (1993) ·
"Heroes and Villains" (1996) ·
"Modern Men" (1996) ·
"Time On Our Hands" (1996) ·
"If They Could See Us Now" (2001) ·
"Strangers on the Shore" (2002) ·
"Sleepless in Peckham" (2003)
"Beckham in Peckham" (2014)