The Unlucky Winner Is...

"The Unlucky Winner Is..."
Only Fools and Horses episode
Episode no.	Series 6 Episode 4
Directed by	Tony Dow
Written by	John Sullivan
Produced by	Gareth Gwenlan
Original air date	29 January 1989 (17 million viewers)
Running time	50 minutes 49:50 (DVD) 49:57 (iTunes)

"The Unlucky Winner Is..." is an episode of the BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 6, and was first screened on 29 January 1989. In the episode, Rodney wins a holiday to Majorca, Spain. The only catch is the organisers think he is 14.

Synopsis

Del Boy has taken an interest in entering competitions, and enters an old painting drawn by Rodney when he was 14 into one, though without Rodney's knowledge. Rodney's work is selected as one of the winners, and he wins a free holiday to the Island of Majorca in Spain, but when informing him of his success, Del declines to tell Rodney that he has won in the under-15's category. When at the airport, Del finally tells Rodney and Cassandra the full details of the prize, namely that the organisers think Rodney is 14. He persuades the two to go along with it, meaning that Rodney has to pretend to be 14 for the week, with Del posing as his father and Cassandra posing as his common law stepmother.

The ploy appears to work, despite strange glances from the organisers, especially after it emerges that Del has modified the birth date on Rodney's passport. However it turns out that the organisers, in order to allow the parents of all the children present (also competition winners) a chance to enjoy the break as well, have set up a club filled with activities for the youngsters to enjoy. As a result, Rodney is basically conscripted into the Groovy Gang, a youth activity group, and is forced to undergo a week of misery as he is forced to take part in a variety of children's activities, such as skateboarding, where Rodney comes second in the contest and attending a junior disco, where Rodney advanced to the final of the breakdancing contest. If that was not bad enough, he has to fight off the affections of a thirteen-year-old Bros fan. Both Rodney and Cassandra are soon miserable (since they cannot spend any time together) and are ready to blow the whistle on the lie, but Del, who is having a great time, pretends to each of them (separately) that the other is enjoying it.

Whilst on the trip, Del purchases some Spanish lottery tickets for each of them - to placate Cassandra and Rodney's rage at being duped - and Rodney's numbers win the one million peseta jackpot. The group are then informed by the holiday organisers that they will be unable to claim the prize, since the winning tickets were in Rodney's name and under Spanish law, people under 18 are not allowed to gamble. Knowing their charade is over and desperately wanting to claim the prize, Rodney produces his student's card in to prove that he really is over 18, so the Trotters can then legally claim the prize. However, that has also been modified by Del, meaning the Trotters' windfall cannot be won. Del ruefully suggests "It's only money, bruv..." to calm Rodney down. Rodney chases Del out of the bar as the credits roll.

Story arc

• This episode makes the first mention of Elsie Partridge, which foreshadows her appearance in the next episode, "Sickness and Wealth", and the events of this episode are mentioned in "The Jolly Boys' Outing", "Time On Our Hands", and the Sport Relief 2014 Special.

Music

• Alison Moyet : That Ole Devil Called Love
• Buckwheat Zydeco : Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
• Love And Money : Strange Kind Of Love
• Holly Johnson : Love Train
• Habit : Lucy
• Rick Astley : Hold Me In Your Arms
• The Tweets : Birdie Song
• Sylvia Vrethammar : Y Viva España

External links

• "The Unlucky Winner Is..." at TV.com
• "The Unlucky Winner Is..." at BBC Online
• "The Unlucky Winner Is..." at BBC Programmes
• "The Unlucky Winner Is..." at the Internet Movie Database