May the Force be with You Episode Review
Brief: D.I. Slater (The Slag) is on the track of a stolen microwave oven & Delboy is in the frame. Still Del knows who did it, so Del pulls off a classic deal with Roy.
Transmitted: 08.12.1983
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 10.6 million
Del Boy’s arch-enemy from school turns up in Peckham, but this time he’s known as Detective Inspector Slater from the Met Police. Having known Del and his wily ways since they were at school together, Slater knows exactly who to watch when he’s on the trail of some stolen microwaves.
Hapless Rodney has no idea who Slater is when he gets chatting to him in The Nags Head. It’s only when he sees the horror on Del’s face, after bringing Slater back to the flat for a reunion meal, that Rodney realises something is wrong
Despite Rodney’s best efforts, the game appears to be up – one of the microwaves in question is sitting on the sideboard in full view of everybody. Slater immediately begins to question Del, and after threatening Rodney with fictitious drug charges, he forces Del to turn snitch.
Much against his better judgement, Del decides to protect his little brother and spills the beans, but only after bartering for immunity for the whole Trotter family.
Episode Observations
- In May the force Be With You, Slater says ‘Give my love to Marlene everyone else used to’ indicating they were at school together but in Fatal Extraction both Del and Boycie seem to remember her as the bird that worked in a betting shop down Lewisham Grove.
- In May the force Be With You, at the end of the episode when Del has just said that he stole the microwave and is holding up the immunity from prosecution sheet, the signature at the bottom looks very similar to ‘Jim Broadbent’, the actor who plays Slater. He must have signed it using his ‘real’ signature.
- In May the force Be With You, Slater says that Rodney was caught smoking a Moroccan woodbine when the police burst in whereas In “Big Brother” Del says that Rodney was caught smoking the reefer by the governors doing there annual inspection.
May the Force be with You Script
The script will be downloadable from here
Did You Know?
Roy Slater is played by the one and only Jim Broadbent who was originally slated to play Delboy! Recently he’s been Oscar nominated for his role in the film Moulin Rouge!
what does del mean when he says to rodney and grandad keep sprawsing?
Because he only knew Freddy as Uncle Fred and later on from Frog’s legacy he realised that,Uncle Fred must be Freddy the frog
Rob it was’nt a mistake Del boy only knew Freddy as Uncle Fred not his nickname ”Freddy the frog” so when he hears the name Freddy the frog in frog’s legacy he did’nt know who it was because he never knew his ”Uncle Fred’s nickname.In Sleepless In Peckham he sees a photo of Freddy and knows it’s him because he recognises him from the 60’s in the photo as Uncle Fred and then realises he’s Freddy the frog
Oh right, but you would think he would remember and put two and two together wouldn’t you, especially somebody who was so close to his mum with the same name Fred who looks alot like Rodney?
It’s ironic in a way when Slater gets off the phone, and asks Del: “Did you know who that was?” in which Del jokingly replies: “The wife?”.
Because if he had been speaking to his wife, it would of been Raquel, who was famously Del’s partner throughout Series 7 and all the specials.
Yes it’s beautiful irony which John Sullivan often teased us with for decades
Can I just ask you know there is one thing which I cant figure out and im not sure if John Sullivan made a mistake with this. You know in frogs legacy del doesn’t know who Freddy frog was, yet in the last episode he claims he called him uncle fred when he was a kid. Is this a mistake by John Sullivan?, strange because he was such a fantastic writer with attention to detail throughout the series. But it just doesn’t make sense to me?
proobsbly so far back that by the time he wriiten so many scripts forgot maybe an oversight maybe or didnt check old scripts so a contututiy thing.
Yeah good thinking, I never thought of that – I suppose your right there!