The Frog's Legacy
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"The Frog's Legacy" is the sixth
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special episode of the
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sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
''. It was first broadcast on 25 December 1987. In the episode, the Trotters search for the hidden gold legacy of Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, an old friend of their mother's.


Synopsis

Del Boy Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, '' Rock & Chips''. He was played by David Jason in the original ...
, Rodney and Albert travel to
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
to attend the wedding of
Trigger Trigger may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Trigger (''Only Fools and Horses''), in the TV sitcom * Trigger Argee, in science fiction short stories by James H. Schmitz * Devil Trigger, a transformation ability of ...
's niece, Lisa, who appeared in the episode " Tea for Three". Whilst there, Trigger's Aunt Reenie Turpin (
Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for ...
) informs Del about a
Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...
-based
gentleman thief A gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, lady thief, or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy, and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to stea ...
, Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, from the early 1960s. It is revealed that Del and Rodney's mother met Robdal and "befriended" him (a euphemism for Del's mother having had a brief sexual affair with him, as was revealed she had done many times with a number of men throughout the series' development) before Rodney was born and while she and her husband Reg were in the midst of an argument. Reenie describes Robdal as a very strait-laced man, into French wine and paintings. In 1963, Robdal and his gang broke into a bank in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and stole £250,000 in
gold bullion A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refining, refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varietie ...
; the rest of the gang were apprehended by the police, but Robdal fled with the gold and hid it. It is on this information that Del embarks on a mission to find the lost gold, having inherited it from his mother on her death, who in turn, had had it bequeathed to her by Robdal in his will. Uncle Albert, who met Robdal during the
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
, finishes the tale later in the episode by stating that shortly after stealing the gold, and whilst still on the run from the police, Robdal and an explosives expert known as "Jelly" Kelly, robbed a post office. During the robbery, Robdal inadvertently sat on a detonator, killing them both. Del mentions that he was told that Robdal had an affair with a married woman who lived on the estate and wonders why he left everything to Del and Rodney's mother. He also mentions that Robdal allegedly had a child with that woman, who would be approximately Rodney's age now. Rodney overhears this absent-minded comment and starts thinking about the possibility that he may very well be that child, though Albert dismisses it as a rumour. During the course of the story, Del gets Rodney a new job, though he declines to mention that it is working for the local
funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...
as a chief mourner, a fact that angers Rodney upon finding out. While threatening Del, he accidentally leads the hearse the wrong way down a one-way street. However, through his job at the undertakers, Rodney finds out that Robdal purchased an extra large coffin from them in 1963 for a friend named Alfred Broderick. Rodney quickly deduces that "Alfred Broderick" is an anagram of Frederick Robdal, implying that Broderick did not exist, and that Robdal had purchased the coffin to hide the gold in and had arranged a fake funeral for it to be buried. While attempting to sell a faulty computer to Reverend Sturrock, the priest who married Andy and Lisa, Del learns that Sturrock also buried "Mr. Broderick". He then finally discovers the gold's whereabouts. Having failed to mention it earlier, Albert confirms that Robdal earned the nickname "The Frog" because he was a
frogman A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...
in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. Consequently, he buried the gold at sea to hide it from the authorities and intended to recover it at a later date, but was killed before he could do so. While Del vows to find the gold, Rodney once again asks Albert about his resemblance to Robdal; Albert again dismisses it as rumours, but acknowledges that he and Robdal look similar. Rodney then quips, "Freddie the Frog. Killed himself by sitting on someone else's detonator. What a plonker."


Episode cast


Production

Most of the outside filming took place in
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
on the junction of Rectory and Seymour roads near
Stoke Bridge Stoke Bridge in Ipswich carries Bridge Street ( A137) over the point at which the River Gipping becomes the River Orwell. It carries traffic into Ipswich from the suburb of Over Stoke. The bridge consists of two separate structures and is ju ...
. This Christmas special marked the end of an era for ''Only Fools and Horses'', both in front of and behind the cameras. Ray Butt, who had been the show's producer since it started in 1981, decided to leave the BBC shortly after filming was complete. The day before he left, Butt told John Sullivan that he should seriously consider letting ''Only Fools and Horses'' end with this episode; Butt felt that the show had run its course, and pointed to the disastrous reception of the previous year's Christmas special, " A Royal Flush", as proof of his point. Sullivan gave thought to Butt's words, but after "The Frog's Legacy" received a much more positive reception than "A Royal Flush" had done, decided to continue the show. However, Sullivan shared Butt's concerns that the show's format was starting to become stale, and so starting with the next Christmas special, " Dates", ''Only Fools and Horses'' would maintain a balance between Del's
get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk, skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich qui ...
s and the personal lives of the Trotter Family.''Only Fools and Horses: The Bible of Peckham Volume Two'', BBC Books It also marks the last appearance of this view of the Nag's Head; from the next episode, the bar would now be on the right of the screen rather than the centre.


Story arc

* This was the second occasion in the show's history that the issue of whether Rodney and Del share the same father was raised. It had previously been brought up in " Thicker than Water" when their estranged father Reg claimed that Del was not his son, though this was later exposed as troublemaking on his part. Although Albert assures Rodney that the suggestion that he was fathered by Freddie Robdal was just a rumour, " Sleepless in Peckham" settled the issue that Freddie was indeed Rodney's father. This was reiterated in the 2010 prequel trilogy ''
Rock & Chips ''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddi ...
'', in which Freddie (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) has an affair with Del's mother, who gives birth to Rodney as a result. Writer John Sullivan suggested in a BBC interview that Robdal was due to appear in the episode, which would have been the final episode of the show, but later decided against it and established Robdal was already dead. "Sleepless in Peckham" would also establish that Del, as a young man, only ever knew Robdal as "Uncle Fred", which explained why Del was unfamiliar with Robdal's real name until Uncle Albert drunkenly told him the truth about Robdal's past with the Trotters.


Music

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George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
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Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
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Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...
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Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified plat ...
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Sinitta Sinitta Malone known mononymously as Sinitta, is a British-American singer. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single " So Macho" and had several other hits during the decade. In the 2000s, she became known for te ...
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Sinitta Sinitta Malone known mononymously as Sinitta, is a British-American singer. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single " So Macho" and had several other hits during the decade. In the 2000s, she became known for te ...
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Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy ''Roberta (musical), Roberta''. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. It was first recor ...
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References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frogs Legacy, The 1987 British television episodes British Christmas television episodes Hampshire in fiction Only Fools and Horses special episodes Television episodes about weddings