Homesick Episode Review
Brief: Baz, Trig and Rodney are the complete attendance of the local tenants association. Delboy uses Rodney’s election as chairman of the local tenants association to plot a move to ground floor accommodation. Mrs Mackenzie is impressed with Rodneys concern with Grandads health. Del just likes the look of Mrs Mackenzie and a new flat. The plot thickens…
Transmitted: 10.11.1983
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 9.4 million
The wear and tear of climbing twelve floors in Mandela House takes its toll as Grandad’s legs finally give way. And after a visit to the Doctors’ it is recommended that they seek some different housing for the Trotter family – on the ground floor!
Rodney has just been elected Chairman of the Housing Committee, and with a little pressure from Del, he persuades housing and welfare co-ordinator Miss Mackenzie to move the Trotters into a three-bedroom bungalow in Herrington Road.
All seems hunky dory, until Miss Mackenzie catches Del and Grandad sharing a celebratory dance and cancels the deal. An ashamed Rodney agrees to resign as Chairman of the Committee immediately.
Episode Observations
- In Homesick, Grandad said he wanted to be cremated, but he was buried instead.
- In Homesick, Del doesn’t telll the doctor where he lives, so how does the doctor know where he’s going.!
- In Homesick, The video case of this episode shows the Trotter trio in a yellow car but on the complete series three it shows the exact same picture but in a blue car “see above in related features”!
- In Homesick, Grandad shows Rodney the cigarette case that belonged to his Grandad. It turns out tat the cigarette case caused Grandad’s Grandad’s death at in Afica. If he died there, with the cigarette case, how did Grandad come by it?
- In Homesick, in the opening scene the shirt that Del-Boy is wearing is the same one he wears in ‘Strained Relations’ when he takes Uncle Albert back to North London.
- In Homesick, did you know Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby the two old ladys who were regulary seen in Fawlty Towers were both in the episode Homesick as the 2 women down the market when Del is selling Oranges.
- In Homesick, Del speaks to Dr.Becker and says “you dont know me” but in “thicker than water” he claims dr.B is the family doctor and has been for years – therefore wouldnt he know who Del was?
- In Homesick, has anyone noticed that in the scene where Del and Rodney are in Grandad’s bedroom (when he is ill) that directly after the dialogue about taking Grandad to Lordes and Del says he doesn’t even like cricket you can clearly see if you watch Del that he is about crease himself with laughter but manages to hold it back.
- In Homesick, when Del throws an orange the smash doesn’t fit the amount of plates broken.
- In Homesick, when Trig walks in for the meeting, Trig is a row away from the grey row of seats. Next shot Trig has appeared further back again.
- In Homesick, similar to above except in the first scene there is 3 rows of grey chairs, the next shot 4 rows of grey chairs.
- In Homesick, when exactly does Del boy and granddad come up with the plan to get the new house? Whenever it’s devised the plot doesn’t make sense. The lifts are broken, and granddads legs are playing him up at the start and at the end he’s leaping about the place SO does that mean its all planned before Rodney goes to the meeting ? or does Del come up with the plan after Rod becomes chairman and Dr Becker says that knowing the chairman would hold some sway . Either way if it was planned from the start, how would Del know that no-one else except Baz and Trig turn up for the meeting to vote Rodney in as chairman the whole estate were invited, if it wasn’t planned then why did Del brake the lifts ???? why would he do that when granddad wasn’t well ????? PLUS it is clear at the end that granddad has nothing wrong with him yet even Trigger is in on it at the start, saying that he heard granddads legs were playing him up!
- In Homesick, Margaret exits the flat to the left to go to the lifts BUT in “A Royal Flush” it is clear that the lifts are really close to the flat on the right hand side!
- In Homesick, when Granddad is poorly, in bed, Rodney is carefully stroking his hat which Del takes off him and carefully places on Granddad’s chair in the Living room. When Dr Becker leaves and Rod & Del go in to see granddad he is wearing it in bed.
- In Homesick, when Granddad is in bed he says he has never had a garden but in Mother Nature they go to granddads allotment, surely this counts as garden.
- In Homesick, there is a scene where Del and rodders find Grandad on the flat floor, He claims He was watching Crossroads, so this indicates that he had spent a while in the flat, so why is it that when del & Rodney come in they switch on the light? Why was Grandad sat in the dark?
Homesick Script
The script will be downloadable from here
Where are they now?
Old Baz played by Ron Pember has done alot of acting over the years including Rumpole of the Bailey, The Famous Five, Minder and Just Good Friends and has done some acting in the theatre since his OFAH days.
This is the only episode in which Trigger refers to Rodney as Rodney after Rodney asks Trigger why he calls him Dave.
In response to when Del and Grandad came up with their plan to get the bungalow, I believe that it was cooked up before Rodney went to the meeting, and they planned to trick the current chairman into giving up his position to Rodders.
In Homesick, when Rodney finds out Del had the lifts broken down and Del runs away to answer the doorbell, when Del shuts the inner door Rodney awkwardly hits the shutting door & the door then shuts on Rodney’s tie.
In response to the comment about Margaret exiting the flat to the left to go to the lifts BUT in a Royal Flush the lifts are close to the flat on the right hand side, well, if you remember the lifts dont work in this episode, cuz Del broke it. So she was walking to the stairs :-) so we assume.
In response to the comment about Delboy about to laugh while talking about Lords/Lourdes well if you notice when Del puts the slice of orange to Grandads mouth earlier Grandad was holding back a laugh and when Delboy says Grandad’s “brains went years ago” Grandad lifts his shoulders as if he was holding a laugh, it seems during that scene Grandad had the giggles and it rubbed off on Del.
In response to Grandad wearing his hat when the hat was on his chair earlier, well, the scene is later on when he is wearing the hat because Rodney went out & came back after buying oranges. One might think Rodney got them with the shopping he and Del came back with, but when Rodney came in the room he commented that he didnt know Del was in there, also Del asked what Rodney got (if he got grandad some grapes) & also it was in its own paper bag. All three facts point to the fact Rodney didnt buy it when they went shopping together. Easy for Grandad to get his hat or Del to have gotten it for him while Rodney was out buying oranges.
One of the observations says about grandad’s allotment, but this could easily of been their other grandads allotment (on their mothers side). In The Russians Are Coming, Del and Rodney talk about the allotment with grandad right next to them as if they are talking about their other grandad.