‘Strained Relations’ – Del’s Speech
Aired Feb 1985
“I’ve always played the tough guy – I didn’t want to, but I had to. I’ve played it for so
long now; I don’t know how to be anything else”
With the series becoming established and into its fourth year, the death of Lennard
Pearce has often been cited as a pivotal moment in the history of the show. At a
time when the show could have ended entirely and feelings amongst the cast still
raw over the loss of their colleague and friend, the resulting episode, ‘Strained
Relations’, laid new ground for a sit-com containing as it did the death of a major
cast member.
‘Strained Relations’ – Del’s Speech
It has generally been acknowledged that the quality of John Sullivan’s writing within
this episode in particular was to the highest quality. The ability to turn tears of
sorrow to those of laughter has been used ever since as a benchmark of how it
should be done and paved the way for writers such as David Renwick to regularly
employ such techniques within ‘One Foot in the Grave’ a decade later.
Whilst the episode is generally acknowledged for the key comedic moment in which
the vicar’s hat is mistaken for Grandad’s and thrown into the grave, the episode also
contains one of the greatest moments for other reasons.
As the reality of life without Grandad begins to sink in, Del Boy reveals (for the first
time in the series) what it means to be him. In a moment of high emotion we see
revealed much of the reasoning which made ‘Only Fools’ so successful thereafter.
When challenged by Rodney as to how Del could get over the death so quickly, Del
delivers a powerful, emotional defence of who he is and what makes him tick.
In one of David Jason’s finest performances as Del Boy, we see that much of what
Del is and does is a front put on to survive in the world he inhabits. The absence
of such strong underlying themes from many modern sitcoms is what makes ‘Only
Fools’ stand out as a class apart.
The Trotters are striving to improve, tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit so
prevalent in the country at the time. Underlying all is the family bond, held together
by the memory of their late mother and the responsibility for Del to take the lead
role as head of the family – a role not without its consequences as we see later on in
the series.
Paul Howe
August 2011
