Tea for Three Episode Review
Brief: Del’s tampered with, the sun-bed controls and Rodney’s seeing red – literally His face is done to a turn. He’ll hardly wow Trigger’s niece, Lisa, with his handsome good looks now, which leaves the way pretty clear for Del himself But revenge should certainly be sweet when he volunteers Del for a spot of hang-gliding.
Transmitted: 21.09.1986
Duration: 30 minutes
Viewing Figures: 16.5 million
Trigger’s young niece, Lisa, is staying with him for a while, and the scruffy young girl that Del and Rodney remember has now become a stunning 25 year-old woman.
Both Trotter brothers think they are in with a chance, and immediately begin competing for Lisa’s affections. Despite almost coming to blows, Del and Rodney manage to invite Lisa round to the flat for tea, and she seems more than happy to accept.
In preparation for their date with Lisa, Del goes out to get some more ‘Smash’ and Rodney spends half-an-hour on the sunbed. Just before Del leaves for the shops, he notices Rodney has dozed off and whacks up the heat on the bed.
Much to Rodney’s annoyance, he spends most of the evening nursing his bright red face, which has burnt under the ultra-violet rays, whilst Del and Lisa seem to be getting on really well. To get his revenge, Rodders picks up on the fact that Lisa mentions she was going hang-gliding, and as a surprise for his 46th birthday, he arranges for Del to have a go.
After offering to give her a left back home to Winchester, Del and Rodney head off to meet Lisa’s friends for a spot of hang-gliding. Not wanting to loose face, Del reluctantly agrees to try it out, and after launching himself into the air, he disappears for over 12 hours.
Episode Observations
- In Tea for Three, When The hanglider scene was filmed David Jason wanted to actually fly the glider himself, he is a trained glider pilot, scuba diver, and swims with dolphins! But the BBC said it was too dangerous for him to fly it, for insurance reasons!
- In Tea for Three, Trigger says that Del landed in Redhill after the hang gliding trip. Del then states that he “did loop-the-loop over Dymchurch”, and let’s not forget that he took off from near Winchester. The likelihood of Del travelling from Winchester to Dymchurch, then doubling back to Redhill is very slender, especially in the twelve hours he’s missing for.
- In Tea for Three, Trigger’s niece Lisa says that she is 25, so that would have made her born about 1961. However in the 1991 episode “Chance Of A Lunchtime” Trig’s younger sister, Lisa’s mother, has had her 39th birthday. By then Lisa would be about 30. So Trig’s sister had Lisa when she was only nine then. How likely is that).
- In Tea for Three, I taped the original episode from TV and Del and Rodney are trying to chat up Lisa at the Nags Head and there is a talent contest going on, Albert is in it and anounces that he would like to dedicate his song to someone who couldn’t be with him tonight he says he would like to sing “Ada” (to which everyone says that haven’t heard of “Ada”). He then sings Ada….you with the stars in your eyes (instead of Hey there) anyway on the bought copy of the video this is completely missing and the following scene back at the flat has Rodney mentioning the talent contest so unless you have seen the original episode you won’t know what they are on about.
- In Tea for Three, Rodney says he remembers Lisa (Trigs Niece) from years back, but in Big Brother (A few years back), Rodney has to be introduced to Trig as if they had never met before.
- In Tea for Three, at the begining of the episode, the pianist and drummer are clearly not playing in line with the sound track.
- In Tea for Three, When Del & Rodney are talking to Andy on the hill just befor Del goes hang-gliding look at the first shot of Andy, over his shoulder the Trotter van is in full view. The shot then turns to Del & Rodney when it goes back to Andy magic no van!
- In Tea for Three, Why does Rodney look on a map to see where Del has ended up hang-gliding, he could be anywhere so the map has no significance.
Tea for Three Script
The script will be downloadable from here
Isn’t there a few seconds cut from the released dvd where Del says to Albert about walking across the estate like that etc…?i seem to recall this from the VHS i once had…..???
Yes that’s right. There’s a lot more than just that deleted though. See my post further down the thread for details. I think the original reason for the cuts was because I believe the episode on its original broadcast slightly overran thirty minutes. I’ve definitely seen the episode on the BBC in full, but it was well over twenty years ago. At some point (people seem to think about 1989) the episode was edited by the BBC for future broadcasts with the offensive ‘paki’ line removed, plus additional lines edited to enable the episode to fit better into a thirty minute slot. Gold now show ‘Tea for Three’ uncut apart form the racially sensitive line. I’m not sure whether ‘Tea for Three’ was ever available uncut on VHS, but the DVD releases are cut in the same places the BBC cut it, plus an additional cut for music licensing reasons. The episode is totally uncut on the Itunes release (apparently).
I also meant to say that the fact the dialogue on the DVD releases remains cut appears to be down to nothing more than laziness on the part of the BBC. Even if the cut for music licensing has to be there, there is no reason for the other cuts to be present on the DVD as there are no time constraints as there would be with a television broadcast on the BBC. It simply appears that they have not bothered to restore the lines, they must think nobody will notice or care!
Is it possible to obtain a copy of the ‘Tea for Three’ episode with Albert’s song ‘Ada’ still intact? I originally had recorded it on tape and assumed it would be on the commercial disc so dumped the tape.
Any chances?
Hi David,
I have Tea for Three uncut.
Whats your email?
Hi Lee,
Would you be able to send me through the uncut version?
Kind regards,
Paul
Back in the flat, whilst Rodney is studying the map, Albert mentions that Del has been missing for 12 hours……a couple of minutes later in the same scene listen how Mike – responding to the news that Lisa is getting married – announces that he’ll open the pub early for a celebratory drink. I’m presuming the Nags Head opens around lunchtime, so Mike opens the pub around 10:00 – 11:00 am which means Del went missing about that time the previous EVENING. However when he sets off on the hang-glider it’s broad daylight ( OK maybe I#m looking into things a bit too much here ! )
Mike and Trigger bring Del home in the evening, not in the morning.
The ‘Tea For Three’ script is missing some lines that were in the original broadcast but have been cut from many repeat broadcasts and also video and DVD releases. This is the full script for the scene in which Rodney, Del and Lisa are having tea.
Lisa: “Does your face hurt?”
Rodney: “Only when I smile.”
Del: “It’s amazing how nature compensates”
Lisa “What you mean?”
Del: “Well with a face like that his got nothing to smile about as he”.
Rodney: “Here you are Lisa, We have a selection of cheeses, We got cheddar, that’s double gossiper and that one’s cracker barrel.”
Del: “Shhhh”
Rodney: “Well, The Paki didn’t have a lot of choice, did he?, This aint really Lambswell territory.”
Lisa: “Oh I’m sorry Rodney I really couldn’t eat another thing, it was a lovely meal, thank you both.”
Del: “Oh that’s alright.”
Del: “Listen Rodney, I wouldn’t stand about in that suit too long if I were you, not with your head!”
Lisa: “Why not?”
Del: “Well, he looks like a Swan Vesta! You’ve only got yourself to blame, haven’t yer?”
Rodney: “I didn’t think the timer on that thing was faulty.”
Del: “yeah. Oh, yeah…”
Rodney: “I only wanted a 30-minute tone-up, Two and a half hours I was under there.”
Del: “It’ll al be right, be alright, Don’t worry about it Rodney, because in a couple days’ time it goes all flaky and scabby, then it falls off, and it’ll be gone, see?”
Rodney: “How’s your mum these days Lisa?”
Did anyone notice yesterday on the trigger tribute weekend that Gold showed the tea for three episode uncut apart from the ‘Well, The Paki didn’t have a lot of choice, did he?’ How did Gold get hold of this episode as it has not been shown uncut since 1/1/89?
Presumably given to them by the BBC as they would obviously still have the full episode in the archives. How do you know Tea for Three hasn’t been shown uncut since 1989?
Just to update this thread, I bought series 5 from the BBC Store (that new on-demand video service) and this scene is shown fully uncensored.
The ‘Tea For Three’ script is missing some lines that were in the original broadcast but have been cut from many repeat broadcasts and also video and DVD releases. This is the full script for the scene in which Rodney, Del and Lisa are having tea.
Lisa: “Does your face hurt?”
Rodney: “Only when I smile.”
Del: “It’s amazing how nature compensates”
Lisa “What you mean?”
Del: “Well with a face like that his got nothing to smile about as he”.
Rodney: “Here you are Lisa, We have a selection of cheeses, We got cheddar, that’s double gossiper and that one’s cracker barrel.”
Del: “Shhhh”
Rodney: “Well, The Paki didn’t have a lot of choice, did he?, This aint really Lambswell territory.”
Lisa: “Oh I’m sorry Rodney I really couldn’t eat another thing, it was a lovely meal, thank you both.”
Del: “Oh that’s alright.”
Del: “Listen Rodney, I wouldn’t stand about in that suit too long if I were you, not with your head!”
Lisa: “Why not?”
Del: “Well, he looks like a Swan Vesta! You’ve only got yourself to blame, haven’t yer?”
Rodney: “I didn’t think the timer on that thing was faulty.”
Del: “yeah. Oh, yeah…”
Rodney: “I only wanted a 30-minute tone-up, Two and a half hours I was under there.”
Del: “It’ll al be right, be alright, Don’t worry about it Rodney, because in a couple days’ time it goes all flaky and scabby, then it falls off, and it’ll be gone, see?”
Rodney: “How’s your mum these days Lisa?”
The script on here for ‘Tea for Three’ is missing some parts that were in the original broadcast but have been cut on many repeat broadcasts and on video and DVD releases. Some of these lines are missing during the scene with Del, Rodney and Lisa having tea.
Lisa: “Does your face hurt?”
Rodney: “Only when I smile.”
Del: “It’s amazing how nature compensates”
Lisa “What you mean?”
Del: “Well with a face like that his got nothing to smile about as he”.
Rodney: “Here you are Lisa, We have a selection of cheeses, We got cheddar, that’s double gossiper and that one’s cracker barrel.”
Del: “Shhhh”
Rodney: “Well, The Paki didn’t have a lot of choice, did he?, This aint really Lambswell territory.”
Lisa: “Oh I’m sorry Rodney I really couldn’t eat another thing, it was a lovely meal, thank you both.”
Del: “Oh that’s alright.”
Del: “Listen Rodney, I wouldn’t stand about in that suit too long if I were you, not with your head!”
Lisa: “Why not?”
Del: “Well, he looks like a Swan Vesta! You’ve only got yourself to blame, haven’t yer?”
Rodney: “I didn’t think the timer on that thing was faulty.”
Del: “yeah. Oh, yeah…”
Rodney: “I only wanted a 30-minute tone-up, Two and a half hours I was under there.”
Del: “It’ll al be right, be alright, Don’t worry about it Rodney, because in a couple days’ time it goes all flaky and scabby, then it falls off, and it’ll be gone, see?”
Rodney: “How’s your mum these days Lisa?”
One thing I’ve noticed is that Rodney says that Del will be turning 46. If the show is in real time – 1986, then Del should be around 40. As in the first series – 1981, it is said that Del is 35.
Fantastic episode though, one of my favourites
Hi Sam I think it is Rodney trying to make Del seem older so he would have a better chance of going out with Lisa
Besides, the first episode of Rock & Chips shows Del aged around 15 in 1960, giving him a birth year of 1945.
Plus the special anniversary episode was supposed to happen in 2011 and was going to be about Del’s 65th birthday, therefore adding up perfectly from the 1981 episode in which Del says he is 35. Anything inbetween those years that contradicted the ages of the characters was John Sullivan portraying Del as either forgetful about ages and dates or a little bit economical with the truth.
Just found there’s a section on Del’s Wikipedia page called Confusion over age
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Boy#Confusion_over_age
Rodney says to Lisa that Del is turning 46. If the show is in real time (1986) then Del should be around 40 at this point. In the first series ‘Go West Young Man,’ it is said that Del is 35 (1981)
A very pedantic observation I know but that’s what happens when you watch them over and over..
Fantastic episode though, one of my favourites from the series.
Rodney says that Del will be turning 47 years old in this episode. Del should be 39/40 if the show is in real time, 1986.
In ‘Go West Young Man’ in the first series, 1981, it is said that Del is 35.
This is really being really pedantic I know, but when you watch these shows over you notice things like this.
A fantastic episode though, one of my favourites, and I’ve just worked out the actor who played Lisa was in East Enders a few years ago.
in tea for three alberts wife is ill at the beginning then there is no more mention of it again.. did she survive?
I think that was another continuity error. Albert mentioned in Strained Relations that he didn’t speak to Ada for years, but “she was still [his] wife”. Since Albert never mentioned a divorce, we can only assume that she had died prior to that episode. Some things in OFAH, especially when it comes to ages and family, don’t always add up correctly.
This was one of the first ever Fools I watched I think.
I’ll always put Jolly Boys Outing as my faveourite Special. But, as for 30 minute and 50 minuters, really too difficult to decide.
Yes i think the funniest episode but how do you decide ? they are all so good
“In Tea for Three, Rodney says he remembers Lisa (Trigs Niece) from years back, but in Big Brother (A few years back), Rodney has to be introduced to Trig as if they had never met before.”
I see what this is getting at, but it is perfectly possible that Rodney and Lisa would have been childhood friends without Rodney ever meeting her uncle Trigger.
Actually the line in ‘Big Brother’ is:
DEL: You know my brother ?
TRIGGER: Yeah. Hi Dave.
So he knows him but they haven’t seen each other in years.
This is my alltime fav ep..
Still to this day i can’t get enough of it.
I must have watched this hundreds of times..
Love it!
Arguably the best 30 minute episode
At this point it became evident that with a 50 minute slot only fools could go a lot further as some of John Sullivan’s plots and comedy genius was clearly being hampered with just 30 minutes