Five Gold Rings
Encyclopedia
Five Gold Rings is the second episode of the Rock & Chips trilogy and the series' first and only Christmas Special. It was first aired on December 29, 2010.
, Del Boy
and the rest of his gang (Boycie, Trigger, Jumbo, Albie and Denzil) have left school. Del and Jumbo now work as market traders selling American records, while Boycie works as a cleaner for a Spanish second hand car dealer, Alberto Balsam. Del's mother, Joan, had been fired from the cinema following her pregnancy, but is now applying to get it back, and she has hired Grandad's wife, Violet, to babysit Rodney while she and Del are out, much to Grandad's chagrin. Joan, however, still misses her old lover, Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, the local gentleman villain and Rodney's real father, unknown to Reg and the rest of the family.
Robdal, meanwhile, has been detained along with his friend, Gerald "Jelly" Kelly, on the suspicion for robbing the jewellery store in Margate during the Jolly Boys' Outing with Del and the others, by the crooked DI Thomas and DC Stanton. Robdal and Kelly stand their ground, staunchly refusing to admit their guilt. Their lawyer arranges bail, and Thomas attempts to have it overturned, but is refused when the judge is revealed to be an old war friend of Robdal and Kelly. Robdal pays a visit to The Nag's Head and speaks with the bartender, whom he suspects of grassing him and Kelly to the police.
While in a bar with the others, Del tells them of his new plan to "break his cherry": following advice from Alberto, Del has acquired five rings made by the father of his friend, Abdul Khan, although they are merely made of glass, not diamonds, and he will use them to get "engaged" to any girl he fancies. Whilst out selling records with the others, Del gets engaged to a former crush, Amita, who also appears to take a shine to Del. Not long after, Del and Jumbo are arrested by their old enemy, Roy Slater, who has now left school and become a police cadet. Although they show the receipts to Sergeant Foster, he sees through their farce by noticing Memphis misspelled on the receipt, meaning that they fabricated the receipts with their own printing material. Despite this, Foster lets them go, on the condition that he keep the records for himself, unaware that Del has loads more stored in his garage. Around the same time, Del also gets engaged with another girl, Glenda, and she invites him to dinner.
Robdal finds Joan in a coffee shop and offers her financial help, but she declines, afraid of what Reg will do if he finds out about their affair, and asks Robdal to stay away from her. One night, after Joan dyes her hair brown to resemble Elizabeth Taylor
, Reg tells Joan of a job he was offered by a certain contact who was looking for a charlady for thirty pounds a week. The contact happens to be Robdal, who did this as a way of getting closer to Joan. During an argument, Joan accuses Robdal of playing the same mind games as Reg, hurting Robdal greatly, and he goes on to point out the major differences between himself and Reg, including his feelings for Joan. As Freddie prepares to head out, Joan runs up and kisses him, and they resume their affair.
Del, while at Glenda's house, makes a fool of himself by telling Glenda's family a rude (but misunderstood) French phrase which Joan learned from Robdal, and the engagement is off. At the same time, Amita comes to Del's flat, looking for him, and Del arrives shortly after, with Joan secretly chastising Del for his promiscuity. Comically, Reg and Violet fail to pronounce Amita's name properly and keep calling her "Anita".
However, Del's engagement to Amita is also ended when Amita takes a trip to Pakistan with her father and learns that Del bought five glass rings from Abdul's father. Heartbroken, Amita admits that she liked Del, and returns the ring to him. Del confides to Trigger of his plans to give up on the rings and find love the normal way, but reverts to the rings upon seeing another beautiful girl put off by Trigger's naïveté.
At the flat, with Del, Reg, and Grandad out at New Year's parties, Robdal pays Joan a visit and sees his son for the first time, holding baby Rodney in his arms.
Plot
A few weeks following the birth of RodneyRodney Trotter
Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and...
, Del Boy
Del Boy
Derek Edward Trotter, better known as "Del Boy", is the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses and one of the main characters of its prequel, Rock & Chips...
and the rest of his gang (Boycie, Trigger, Jumbo, Albie and Denzil) have left school. Del and Jumbo now work as market traders selling American records, while Boycie works as a cleaner for a Spanish second hand car dealer, Alberto Balsam. Del's mother, Joan, had been fired from the cinema following her pregnancy, but is now applying to get it back, and she has hired Grandad's wife, Violet, to babysit Rodney while she and Del are out, much to Grandad's chagrin. Joan, however, still misses her old lover, Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, the local gentleman villain and Rodney's real father, unknown to Reg and the rest of the family.
Robdal, meanwhile, has been detained along with his friend, Gerald "Jelly" Kelly, on the suspicion for robbing the jewellery store in Margate during the Jolly Boys' Outing with Del and the others, by the crooked DI Thomas and DC Stanton. Robdal and Kelly stand their ground, staunchly refusing to admit their guilt. Their lawyer arranges bail, and Thomas attempts to have it overturned, but is refused when the judge is revealed to be an old war friend of Robdal and Kelly. Robdal pays a visit to The Nag's Head and speaks with the bartender, whom he suspects of grassing him and Kelly to the police.
While in a bar with the others, Del tells them of his new plan to "break his cherry": following advice from Alberto, Del has acquired five rings made by the father of his friend, Abdul Khan, although they are merely made of glass, not diamonds, and he will use them to get "engaged" to any girl he fancies. Whilst out selling records with the others, Del gets engaged to a former crush, Amita, who also appears to take a shine to Del. Not long after, Del and Jumbo are arrested by their old enemy, Roy Slater, who has now left school and become a police cadet. Although they show the receipts to Sergeant Foster, he sees through their farce by noticing Memphis misspelled on the receipt, meaning that they fabricated the receipts with their own printing material. Despite this, Foster lets them go, on the condition that he keep the records for himself, unaware that Del has loads more stored in his garage. Around the same time, Del also gets engaged with another girl, Glenda, and she invites him to dinner.
Robdal finds Joan in a coffee shop and offers her financial help, but she declines, afraid of what Reg will do if he finds out about their affair, and asks Robdal to stay away from her. One night, after Joan dyes her hair brown to resemble Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Reg tells Joan of a job he was offered by a certain contact who was looking for a charlady for thirty pounds a week. The contact happens to be Robdal, who did this as a way of getting closer to Joan. During an argument, Joan accuses Robdal of playing the same mind games as Reg, hurting Robdal greatly, and he goes on to point out the major differences between himself and Reg, including his feelings for Joan. As Freddie prepares to head out, Joan runs up and kisses him, and they resume their affair.
Del, while at Glenda's house, makes a fool of himself by telling Glenda's family a rude (but misunderstood) French phrase which Joan learned from Robdal, and the engagement is off. At the same time, Amita comes to Del's flat, looking for him, and Del arrives shortly after, with Joan secretly chastising Del for his promiscuity. Comically, Reg and Violet fail to pronounce Amita's name properly and keep calling her "Anita".
However, Del's engagement to Amita is also ended when Amita takes a trip to Pakistan with her father and learns that Del bought five glass rings from Abdul's father. Heartbroken, Amita admits that she liked Del, and returns the ring to him. Del confides to Trigger of his plans to give up on the rings and find love the normal way, but reverts to the rings upon seeing another beautiful girl put off by Trigger's naïveté.
At the flat, with Del, Reg, and Grandad out at New Year's parties, Robdal pays Joan a visit and sees his son for the first time, holding baby Rodney in his arms.
Connections to Only Fools and Horses
- Del leaves school and becomes a market trader, setting up his image in Only Fools and Horses.
- Del's first use of two of his trademark quotes, "Cushty" and "You know it makes sense".
- Del's methods with his glass rings explain how he was able to get engaged to so many girls before the events of Only Fools and Horses, although he did not find true love until meeting Raquel TurnerRaquel TurnerRachel "Raquel" Turner is a fictional character from the BBC television sit-com Only Fools and Horses, in which she was Del Boy's longtime girlfriend...
through a computer dating agency in "DatesDates (Only Fools and Horses)"Dates" is the seventh Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1988.-Synopsis:The Trotters have been earning a lot of money recently, and Albert's birthday is coming up, though Del Boy and Rodney pretend to have forgotten...
". It is also revealed that this was the idea of Alberto Balsam, the predecessor to Boycie. - Boycie is shown to be working as a car cleaner in a second hand car dealer's shop, setting up his image as a second hand car dealer himself in Only Fools and Horses.
- Roy Slater joins the police force, which leads to him becoming a major antagonist in "May The Force Be With YouMay The Force Be With You (Only Fools and Horses)"May the Force Be with You" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fifth episode of series 3, and was first screened on 8 December, 1983. The title of the episode comes from the famous quote from Star Wars: May the Force be with you.-Synopsis:Roy Slater, the corrupt...
" and "To Hull and BackTo Hull and Back"To Hull and Back" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show, and the fourth Christmas special. The title of the special is derived from the movie To Hell and Back. Parts of the special were shot...
". - Del uses his first French phrase, which is obviously incorrect but which leads to him believing he is fluent in French. The episode reveals that Freddie the Frog was the source of this.
- Del bought his glass rings from the father of a fellow schoolboy named Abdul, who would also be mentioned in "Diamonds Are for HeatherDiamonds Are for Heather"Diamonds Are for Heather" is an episode of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was the second Christmas special, and was first screened on 30 December, 1982.-Synopsis:...
" and "Video NastyVideo Nasty (Only Fools and Horses)"Video Nasty" is the fifth episode of series 5 of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses, first broadcast on 28 September 1986.-Synopsis:...
", as well as appear in "To Hull and Back". - Boycie claims that he won't fall in love and end up in an uneasy marriage so easily. This is almost exactly what he does between the events of Rock & Chips and Only Fools and Horses when he meets and eventually marries Marlene Lane.
- Joan expresses belief that one day, Del will be a millionaire. One of Del's catchphrases in Only Fools and Horses is "This time next year, we'll be millionaires!", although it does not happen until "Time On Our Hands", and Del goes on to lose his fortune in the American Stock Market crash in "If They Could See Us Now....".
- Paula Wilcox, who plays Violet Trotter, previously portrayed Pertunia, Boycie's sister-in-law, in the Only Fools and Horses spin-off The Green Green GrassThe Green Green GrassThe Green Green Grass is a British sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan...
.
Cast
- Nicholas LyndhurstNicholas LyndhurstNicholas Simon Lyndhurst is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies...
as Frederick "The Frog" Robdal - James BuckleyJames Buckley (actor)James Patrick Buckley is an English actor, best known for his roles as Jay Cartwright in the British comedy The Inbetweeners and Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in Rock & Chips.-Early life:...
as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter - Kellie BrightKellie BrightKellie Bright is an actress who is known for her roles as a child actress on British television in the late 1980s and the 1990s, and later in Bad Girls and The Archers.-Early career:...
as Joan Trotter - Shaun DingwallShaun DingwallShaun Dingwall is a British actor and is known for his roles on British television.-Early life:Shaun Dingwall was born in 1972 and attended Ilford County High School for boys. His initial ambition was to become a photographer and for several years he worked as an assistant photographer within the...
as Reg Trotter - Phil DanielsPhil DanielsPhilip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
as Grandad/Edward "Ted" Trotter - Paula WilcoxPaula WilcoxPaula Wilcox is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Chrissy in the British comedy Man About the House .-Early sitcom fame:...
as Violet Trotter - Paul PutnerPaul Putner-Life and career:He was born in East Grinstead. He studied at LAMDA where he won, amongst other prizes, the Kenneth More prize for comedy acting.His first significant TV role saw Putner as numerous characters in The Glam Metal Detectives shown on BBC2. His real break in comedy came after he set up...
as Gerald "Jelly" Kelly - Mel SmithMel SmithMelvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
as DI Thomas - Tom Brooke as DC Martin Stanton
- Dave LambDave LambDave Lamb is a British actor and voice-over artist best known for his work on Come Dine with Me as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games.- Early work :Lamb's first...
as Sergeant Foster - Daniel Cerqueira as Alberto Balsam
- Stephen Lloyd as Boycie
- Lewis Osborne as Trigger
- Ashley Jerlach as Denzil
- Lee Long as Jumbo Mills
- Jonathan Readwin as Albie Littlewood
- Calum McNab as Roy Slater
- Robert DawsRobert DawsRobert Daws is an English actor. He is most notable for a variety of roles he has played in television dramas.-Career:Daws played Tuppy Glossop in the early 1990s version of Jeeves and Wooster...
as Ernie Raynor - Joan Hodges as Gwen
- Chandeep UppalChandeep UppalChandeep Uppal is a British actress best known for her critically acclaimed starring role as Meena Kumar in the film Anita and Me.-Career:...
as Amita
External links
- "Five Gold Rings" at the British Comedy GuideBritish Comedy GuideThe British Comedy Guide or BCG is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, the BCG has published guides to more than 1,200 individual British comedies - primarily TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety...