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"Big Brother" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It is the first episode of series 1, and was first broadcast on 8 September 1981.^[1] In the episode, Del buys a consignment of briefcases, only to later discover that the combinations are locked inside.

Synopsis

Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, chairman of Trotters Independent Traders, employs his younger brother Rodney into his company. Later, at their local pub, The Nag's Head, Rodney meets Del's friend Trigger, in order to buy some briefcases. On introduction, Trigger acknowledges to Del that he is already acquainted with his brother Rodney but then immediately calls him 'Dave'. Del negotiates the price of the briefcases down from £17 to £8, and intends cheating his friend by claiming the price for the 25 is £175, when actually it is £200. Rodney however proves to Trigger, using his GCE in mathematics as proof of his credibility, that Del's figures are wrong. It soon emerges however that not only were the cases stolen, they are also rejects; the combination for them is on the inside. Rodney advises Del to throw them in the river.

Rodney then requests to Del that he be made the partnership's financial adviser, on the grounds of him having two GCEs (maths & art). Del however is not happy about this due to Rodney's behaviour regarding the briefcases. The row between the brothers is soon made worse by the latter's buying a cheeseburger for Grandad instead of an Emperor burger due to lack of funds. Grandad gets angry with Rodney as well, and Rodney decides to leave the partnership and go to Hong Kong. He wishes to go there to see a girl, "Shanghai Lil". She was at art college with Rodney but was deported after they were caught smoking cannabis, for which Rodney received a £300 fine and a suspended sentence.

The next day, Del trawls London, looking for Rodney and attempting to sell the briefcases, having already previously failed with his telephone contacts. Returning home after having failed to achieve either goal, he is soon joined by Rodney, who only got as far as the Shangri-La Doss house Stoke Newington due to running out of money and forgetting his passport. After they make up, Del informs Rodney that he took his advice and threw the briefcases in the "bleeding river", but they floated. ^[2] ^[3]

Episode cast

Actor	Role
David Jason	Del Boy
Nicholas Lyndhurst	Rodney
Lennard Pearce	Grandad
Roger Lloyd-Pack	Trigger
Peta Bernard	Joycie the Barmaid

Note

Trigger appears for the first time in this episode, making him the only character apart from Del and Rodney to appear in both the first episode "Big Brother" and the last episode "Sleepless In Peckham".
Tessa Peake-Jones makes a cameo appearance in the bar as the patron who greets Del as he and Rodney go inside. Peake-Jones would later go on to play Raquel Turner much later in the series, starting as a regular date in the series five special, "Dates", and then becoming Del's long-term domestic partner from the series six special, "Rodney Come Home". This makes her the fourth actor after David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Roger Lloyd-Pack to appear in the show's first and last episode (Sleepless in Peckham).

References

^ "Original Air Date (Big Brother)". IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
^ "Big Brother Review". ofah.net. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^ "Full Episode Script". ofah.net. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

External links

[1] "Original Air Date (Big Brother)". IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

[2] "Big Brother Review". ofah.net. Retrieved 12 September 2013.

[3] "Full Episode Script". ofah.net. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:Big Brother (''Only Fools and Horses'')}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2012}}
-{{Infobox Only Fools and Horses
+{{Infobox television episode
-| Title = Big Brother
+| Title        = Big Brother
-| image        = [[Image:Only Fools Big Brother.jpg|250 px]]
+| Series       = [[Only Fools and Horses]]
+| Image        = [[Image:Only Fools Big Brother.jpg|250px]]
-| caption      = Del Boy and Rodney buying the faulty suitcases from Trigger.
+| Caption      = Del Boy and Rodney buying the faulty suitcases from Trigger.
-| Series       = 1
+| Series no    = 1
-| writer       = [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]]
-| director     = Martin Shardlow
+| Episode      = 1
-| producer     = [[Ray Butt]]
+| Writer       = [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]]
-| length       = 30 minutes
+| Director     = Martin Shardlow
+| Producer     = [[Ray Butt]]
+| Airdate      = 8 September 1981<br />(9.2 million viewers)
+| Length       = 30 minutes
 * 29:55 (DVD)
 * 29:59 (iTunes)
-| Airdate      = 8 September 1981
+| Prev         =
-| Audience     = 9.2 million
+| Next         =
+| Episode list = [[List of Only Fools and Horses episodes|List of episodes]]
-| Cast         =
 }}

v t e Only Fools and Horses episodes
Series 1 (1981)	"Big Brother" "Go West Young Man" "Cash and Curry" "The Second Time Around" "A Slow Bus to Chingford" "The Russians Are Coming"
Series 2 (1982)	"The Long Legs of the Law" "Ashes to Ashes" "A Losing Streak" "No Greater Love" "The Yellow Peril" "It Never Rains..." "A Touch of Glass"
Series 3 (1983)	"Homesick" "Healthy Competition" "Friday the 14th" "Yesterday Never Comes" "May the Force Be with You" "Wanted" "Who's a Pretty Boy?"
Series 4 (1985)	"Happy Returns" "Strained Relations" "Hole in One" "It's Only Rock and Roll" "Sleeping Dogs Lie" "Watching the Girls Go By" "As One Door Closes"
Series 5 (1986)	"From Prussia with Love" "The Miracle of Peckham" "The Longest Night" "Tea for Three" "Video Nasty" "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
Series 6 (1989)	"Yuppy Love" "Danger UXD" "Chain Gang" "The Unlucky Winner Is..." "Sickness and Wealth" "Little Problems"
Series 7 (1990–91)	"The Sky's the Limit" "The Chance of a Lunchtime" "Stage Fright" "The Class of '62" "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle" "Three Men, a Woman and a Baby"
Specials	"Christmas Crackers" (1981) "Diamonds Are for Heather" (1982) "Thicker than Water" (1983) "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)
Other episodes	The Funny Side of Christmas: "Christmas Trees" (1982) "Licensed to Drill" (1984) "White Mice" (1985) "Royal Variety Show" (1986) "The Robin Flies at Dawn" (1990) "Comic Relief special" (1997) "Beckham in Peckham" (2014)