Miami Twice (part two)

Infobox Only Fools and Horses
episode_name = Miami Twice - Oh to be in England


Series = Christmas Special
writer = John Sullivan
director = Tony Dow
producer = Gareth Gwenlan
Duration = 95 minutes
Airdate = 25 December 1991
Audience = 14.9 million
Cast =

Miami Twice was a two-part Christmas special addition of the BBC sit-com, "Only Fools and Horses". The second episode, sub-titled "Oh to be in England", was first screened on 25 December 1991.

ynopsis

With Del Boy and Rodney having arranged a holiday to Miami in the prior episode, this one takes place predominantly in that location. Whilst in a bar during their first night in the city, the two are befriended by a group of local men, who turn out to be members of a mafia family. It emerges that the boss of the family, a Don Corleone-inspired character named Don Vincenzo "Vinny the Chain" Ochetti, is on trial and facing life imprisonment for various major crimes. It also emerges that Ochetti is a Doppelgänger for Del Boy (and is thus also played by David Jason) and his family hatch a plot to assassinate Del, with the intention that everyone will assume the Don himself has been actually assassinated and thus save him from a prison sentence.

After arranging for their camper van to be robbed, the group, led by the Don's son, Rico, invite Del and Rodney to stay at the family mansion. Over the following days, several attempts to assassinate Del, including shooting him in a beach-side restaurant and sending him off on a jet ski with a broken throttle, prove unsuccessful.

Whilst browsing around the family mansion, Del inadvertently stumbles on information about Ochetti and what they're trying to do after being led into a meeting with two Colombian drug barons by Rico, who mistook Del for his father. Meanwhile Rodney gets in touch with Cassandra and during their conversation learns that Del knew the week when Cassandra would be at the talks with her bank regarding her promotion and therefore booked the holiday knowing Cassandra wouldn't be able to go and wangled himself a free holiday with Rodney's pension money. A furious Rodney bumps into Ochetti and believing him to be Del shoves him up against the wall and promises to make him pay. However just after the confused Don leaves, Rodney meets Del, who convinces Rodney of the situation. Realising he's just threatened the head of a mafia family, Rodney agrees to quickly leave and the two brothers escape through the window and flee, ultimately ending up in the Everglades, where they meet the holidaying Boycie and Marlene. Despite being shot at by the gangsters, they escape.

After pinning the drug dealing papers on the park ranger station's door, the Trotter brothers go straight to the airport and wait there until their return flight to England, where it is revealed on a news programme that Ochetti had been found guilty on all counts. Upon returning home, Del Boy and Rodney find stacked boxes of White Wine in their flat, as well as a relieved Raquel and Albert.

Anomalies

This episode of "Only Fools and Horses" is something of an anomaly in the series. There is incidental music throughout the episode, which is not normally used on the show. It is one of only two episodes to be shot entirely on film (the other being "To Hull and Back" although, unlike that episode, the Nag's Head and Flat sets do not have an extra wall), only three without a laugh track (the others being "To Hull and Back" and "A Royal Flush"), one of three not to use the regular closing music (the others being "The Jolly Boys' Outing" and "Rodney Come Home") and the only episode after series 1 not to use the regular opening titles and theme music, instead opting for a cover of The Lovin' Spoonful song "Summer in the City", recorded by the Gutter Brothers. The only on-screen mention of "Only Fools and Horses" in this episode appears at the very end of the closing credits, only the "Miami Twice" name appears in the opening titles.

For the 1998 VHS release, the episode was titled "Miami Twice: the Movie" and the two episodes were combined into one, with the on-screen titles & credits removed from the second episode (presumably by using the original 16mm footage, rather than the master videotape of the episode) and a laugh track added (often drowning out dialogue). The end credits are also remade, including the credits for both episodes and carrying the 1997 BBC logo. This version was also used for the 2003 DVD release, though it has never been broadcast.

Notes

*This episode features brief cameo appearances by Barry Gibb, member of The Bee Gees and resident of Miami and Richard Branson, who were both fans of the series.
*When Rico introduces himself to Del & Rodney in the nightclub, the background music is "Killer" by Seal, prophecising his intentions towards Del.
*When the police return Del (whom they think is Ochetti) to Rico after a failed attempt to drown him, they mention that he is unharmed except that he is speaking "with an Australian accent". This is in reference to North Americans frequently mistaking the cockney dialect for an Australian accent.The closing music which accompanies the closing credits at the end of the programme is 'Summer in the City' by the Gutter Brothers.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/onlyfools/christmas/1991.shtml "Miami Twice" at bbc.co.uk]