It’s Only Rock N Roll Episode Review
Brief: Rodney is the drumless drummer in Mental Micky’s band, ‘A Bunch Of Wallies’. Delboy takes on the job of manager, getting them an abortive St Paddy’s night gig at The Shamrock Club. Will they be a hit or miss? Thursday nights Top of the Pops will reveal all.
Transmitted: 14.03.1985
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 13.6 million
Rodney has joined a new band, and Del immediately capitalises on this by booking them into The Shamrock Club to play for the St Patrick’s night festivities.
Taking his place as the band’s manager, Del winces his way through their rehearsals, and when the Shamrock gig results in a fight, the band are forced to leg it, leaving the instruments behind them.
When Rodney finds out the musical equipment has vanished, he contacts the police and helps them with their enquiries. When tell sees Rodney with the constable, he quickly distracts the officer and pulls Rodney aside. It turns out that Del had the instruments on sale or return, and he’d taken them back because their band was so bad.
Rodney’s dreams of showbiz fame have been shattered, but he goes ballistic when he sees his group performing their old hit single on Top of the Pops and realises that without Del’s interference he might have made it to number one.
Episode Observations
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, At the end when Del is on the phone half his shirt is open at the top and he goes out like that. On a personal note i dont normally spend time looking at blokes chests, just to clear it up.
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, When Del and Rodney are chatting in the garage, Del says that he understood Rodney having a dream of becoming a rock star so he “could have the Capri Ghia…all that!” If Del thought a Capri Ghia was such a posh motor, he must have been over the moon when Boycie sold him the Prattmobile a few years later!
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, Del tells Monkey he’s had the dolls for a week, shortly before seeing A Bunch Of Wallies on Top of the Pops. On the day he bought the dolls, Rodney was still in the band and another member said later he reckoned his mate’s cousin could get them a contract. So in the space of one week, the group have played the Shamrock Club, parted company with Rodney, found a new drummer, got some instruments of their own (which they never had previously), gained a contract, recorded a single and appeared on Top of the Pops! How likely is that?
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, how did Rodney manage to tell Uncle Albert that he’d organised a date for him at the old folks beano AND start watching Top of the Pops in Albert’s room in just five seconds? That was the gap between Rodney entering the room and Albert leaving it!
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, Del switches off Top of the Pops just before Rodney tells him that he’s organised Albert to take the woman from the Laundromat on the old folks beano “on Thursday”. But as Top of the Pops, until recently, was ALWAYS broadcast on Thursdays, surely he would have said “NEXT Thursday” to avoid confusion?
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, the garage is far larger and faces a wall unlike the garage seen in “Time on Our Handsl”, there it has a other garages opposite and is much smaller.
- In It’s Only Rock and Roll, when Del’s on the phone to Liam at the Shamrock Club, he starts playing Dianne by the Bachelors. However, when he puts the phone down, and turn the volume up, it jumps to a different point of the song!
It’s Only Rock N Roll Script
The script will be downloadable from here
Did You Know?
Did you know that Ex Radio1 DJ Mike Read appeared in this episode. He is on the TV presenting the group on Top of The Pops.
Mike had forgotten all about this appearance in the top sitcom. Mike was recently watching an episode at home with his family and suddenly realised that he was watching himself !
That must have been a shock to Mike
One of the guitarists in Rodney’s band is played by David Thewlis from Harry Potter fame. Look closely.
Can anyone please tell me what happened to Marcus Francis who was in the band in the episode of “It’s only Rock ‘n’ Roll”?, many thanks, David.
Hey David. You probably already know that Marcus was in a 6 part series back in 1980 called “going out”. Really brought back memories for me as I was leaving school myself at the time and it was about that. Anyway, if you tap in on youtube “going out” and then click on a short clip by a guy that posted it “Sam Gordon” in the comment section, Marcus’s son has commented. He may help you David.
Thank you Mark, yes Going Out was excellent as it was probably that series and Grange Hill that reflected life for teenagers at that time, David.
Hello OFAH fans,
I noticed when Del walks out of the building that Rodney and the other wallies are in, the scene seems to freeze on the 2001 DVD box set version I own. Is the scene transition glitch intentional or was it an unfinished cut? I don’t own any video versions (I was actually born in 2001 as well), so can someone please check if it is just a big or an unfinished cut?
Thanks,
Luigi442wii
Hi Luigi.
in reply to your message, I have checked my series 4 DVD of only fools and horses, I watched this episode, and mine is fine, there is no glitch or freezing when Del exits the community hall building.
however, my series 4 DVD comes from OFAH the complete collection in a red and yellow coloured box, the box has a roof to it, which you take off, this box was released in 2011 – eleven years ago.
have you checked your DVD? if your series 4 DVD is scratched deeply in a couple of places, that might be why it freezes when Del leaves the building.
I’d love to see the full performance of Boys Will Be Boys on TOTP’s that they created…
I’d like to hear the song in full too. Wonder if a full version exists?
Listen here…. stop me if youve heard it… a million kids done nothin’ to deserve it….
When they are in the garage there is a bear model and a skeleton to note Steptoe and Son
Thats a good point mate – Rock n Roll
the jacket daniel is wearing could it be the same jacket speed wears in citizen smith