Video Nasty

"**Video Nasty**" is the fifth episode of series 5 of the BBC sitcom, *Only Fools and Horses*, first broadcast on 28 September 1986. In the episode, Rodney receives a grant to make a local film, but Del sees it as an opportunity to make money.

## Synopsis

At *The Nag's Head*, as Trigger and Boycie talk about Marlene's inability to have children, Rodney enters to tell everyone that he and Mickey Pearce have been given £10,000 by their evening art class teacher to make a local community film. Del Boy and Uncle Albert also enter and tell everyone that they've been borrowing hay bales from a private zoo run by Abdul's cousin's girlfriend's brother's friend, as well as been to see Monkey Harris's sister's husband's first wife's stepfather, who works for an animal food company. Rodney tells everyone that he's writing the story of the film, and Mickey is directing.

The next day at the flat, Rodney has a writer's block when trying to come up with a good story, until Del enters from the hall with a very old, slightly battered typewriter. After showing him how hard he has to hit the keys, Del tells Rodney to begin typing. But Rodney says that he can't think of an idea for a story. Del mentions that he's got an idea for a story called ***There's a Rhino Loose in the City***, which is about a rhinoceros who escapes from a zoo and comes out at night to kill people in London, while hiding in the day, and a private detective, who's a lot like Charlton Heston, is called in to try and solve the crime, while trying to woo a female zookeeper. But, Rodney refuses to use Del's nonsensical story in his film, because he's only got a small budget. Del says that it's the beauty of it, because he knows where there's a rhinoceros going cheap.

At a Chinese takeaway, Del tells Rodney that Mickey Pearce is practicing using the camera by filming weddings for money in return. Boycie and Marlene enter, and Marlene tells the Trotters that it's the 20th anniversary of her and Boycie's marriage the following Friday, and the Trotters promise to be there. This inspires Rodney to put that in his film.

A few days later, back at the flat, Del shows Rodney a list of extras (who have to pay Del £10 to take part) to use in his film, as well as a list of businesses to advertise. Just then, Mickey enters with the filiming equipment and his latest girlfriend Amanda, as Del and Albert exit. Rodney is horrified to see that Mickey is filming a dirty movie involving Amanda wearing a nurse's uniform and stripping all for Boycie, and Rodney accidentally gets caught on film.

On Friday, at The Nag's Head, after Mickey finishes filming Boycie and Marlene's anniversary, all the gang head into the back room and watch the British premiere of ***Night Nurse*** based on the novel by Enid Blyton. Rodney quickly realises that's what Mickey and his girlfriend have been filming in the flat the other day, and quickly sneaks once the film starts. Del screams out Rodney's name the moment he sees him in the film.

Back at Nelson Mandela House, Rodney tells Del that he didn't know what Mickey was going to do. Del mentions that the people backing up Boycie in his dirty movies are the Driscoll Brothers. As Del heads off to the bathoom to flush the *Night Nurse* videotape down the toilet, Mickey and his friends show up to party, and Rodney lets them in, just for Del to chase them out. Rodney then gets a telephone call from his art teacher, who isn't overly impressed with Rodney's idea, but is willing to try and film it anyway. Rodney then says Del knows where there's a rhino going cheap, revealing that Rodney's idea is There's a Rhino Loose in the City after all.

## Featured characters

* Del Boy
* Rodney
* Uncle Albert
* Mike Fisher
* Mickey Pearce
* Boycie
* Marlene
* Trigger
* Amanda

## Other notes

### Story arc

* This episode marks the first mention of the Driscoll Brothers, who don't appear until "Little Problems".

### Episode concept

* The idea for the script was based on a true story about a youth club that was given a grant from the local council to do filming, but all the equipment and money shortly disappeared.

### Continuity errors

* Marlene said that it's her and Boycie's 20th wedding anniversary, which means they first married in 1966, but in "Sleepless in Peckham", she claimed that they have been married for 34 years (which would've placed their wedding in 1969).

### Production goofs

* When Rodney closes the door in the kitchen while Mickey Pearce starts filming *Night Nurse*, the wall behind the kitchen door has no window in it, yet in "The Sky's the Limit", the studio scene on the balcony when the satellite dish is seen for the first time shows a small window in the kitchen wall.
* When the group are watching the video Mickey Pearce filmed in the back room of The Nag's Head, the scene with Rodney in it is shown from the same original camera angle as viewers originally saw it, rather than the camera Mickey would have been holding across the room.

"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)