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Only Fools and Horses
S7.E10
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IMDbPro

Fatal Extraction

  • Episode aired Dec 25, 1993
  • TV-14
  • 1h 25m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
628
YOUR RATING
Nicholas Lyndhurst in Only Fools and Horses (1981)
Comedy

After a visit to the dentist Del unwisely makes a date with the comely receptionist Beverley, but, on Rodney's advice, cancels it. After Del has got drunk and been responsible for causing a ... Read allAfter a visit to the dentist Del unwisely makes a date with the comely receptionist Beverley, but, on Rodney's advice, cancels it. After Del has got drunk and been responsible for causing a riot, he finds Beverley at his flat and fears that she has come for revenge, though she ha... Read allAfter a visit to the dentist Del unwisely makes a date with the comely receptionist Beverley, but, on Rodney's advice, cancels it. After Del has got drunk and been responsible for causing a riot, he finds Beverley at his flat and fears that she has come for revenge, though she has only come to buy Damien's old high chair. In exchange she gives Del an answer-phone, and... Read all

  • Director
    • Tony Dow
  • Writer
    • John Sullivan
  • Stars
    • David Jason
    • Nicholas Lyndhurst
    • Buster Merryfield
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    628
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Tony Dow
    • Writer
      • John Sullivan
    • Stars
      • David Jason
      • Nicholas Lyndhurst
      • Buster Merryfield
    • 4User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

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    Top cast23

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    David Jason
    David Jason
    • Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter
    Nicholas Lyndhurst
    Nicholas Lyndhurst
    • Rodney Trotter
    Buster Merryfield
    Buster Merryfield
    • Uncle Albert Trotter
    Tessa Peake-Jones
    Tessa Peake-Jones
    • Raquel Turner
    Gwyneth Strong
    Gwyneth Strong
    • Cassandra Trotter
    Paul Barber
    Paul Barber
    • Denzil
    John Challis
    John Challis
    • Boycie
    Kenneth MacDonald
    Kenneth MacDonald
    • Mike Fisher
    Roger Lloyd Pack
    Roger Lloyd Pack
    • Trigger
    Andrew Charleson
    • The Dentist
    Roy Heather
    Roy Heather
    • Sid
    Mel Martin
    Mel Martin
    • Beverley
    Patrick Murray
    Patrick Murray
    • Mickey Pearce
    Jamie Smith
    • Damien Trotter
    Bryan Brittain
    • Texo
    Linford Brown
    • Policeman
    Lyn Langridge
    • Vi
    Nick Maloney
    Nick Maloney
    • Mick
    • Director
      • Tony Dow
    • Writer
      • John Sullivan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews4

    8.1628
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    Featured reviews

    5puzgolac

    Not very good

    This is not a very good episode, neither plot-wise not comedy-wise. It feels too long and drawn out. The plot stumbles most of the time, not knowing where it wants to go. There are just too many subplots, and they are barely connected, so this feels like a bunch of random ideas thrown together and barely connected. There are too many long scenes of conversations that appear out of nowhere and lead nowhere. Del trying to remember who the girl he dated so long ago was, just pops out of nowhere and feels completely artificial. And the whole idea of Del not remembering that he dated Marlene makes absolutely no sense. He has known Boycie all his life, so when it turned out that his casual girlfriend was actually going steady with Boycie at the same time, not to mention that Boycie would marry her later, Del would surely remember that very well. The whole supposedly creepy situation with the supposedly creepy receptionist never lands and just feels like a dud. In addition, the whole affair is just rehashing of old themes, only this time it is Del and Raquel, not Rodney and Cassandra.

    Most of the jokes are just not funny. Sullivan obviously couldn't think of something actually funny, so he used the old, worn out trick of going over the top instead. Unfortunately, that never works. Over the top, ridiculous or silly is not the same as funny. The Trigger jokes here are an example of that, it is just painful to watch how Trigger's stupidity is so completely blown out of proportion in pursuit of laughs that never come. And the rioting scene where the combatants stop and separate to let Del pass was just embarrassing.

    Comparing the specials that came after season 7, Miami Twice was probably worse than this, but this is not much better.
    6Lunerar

    Why Ask!?

    Another hot and cold one for me. The story is quite intriguing and many of the themes are pretty serious but for some reason, perhaps because of these very reasons, some of the gags don't work.

    When it's good; it's good and the actors still seem to enjoy playing their characters. John Sullivan seems to still enjoy writing them. It's just that some elements of this one don't quite work, in my opinion.

    Another good but not great episode.
    6phantom_tollbooth

    A series growing stale

    In 1987, departing producer Ray Butt informed John Sullivan that he thought Only Fools and Horses had run its course and advised him to end the show with that year's Christmas special, The Frog's Legacy. Fortunately, Sullivan didn't take that advice but he did acknowledge Butt's implication that the show's formula had gone stale. Sullivan addressed this by making Only Fools and Horses less about just Get Rich Quick schemes and more about the personal and romantic lives of the Trotters, leading to a deeper emotional impact that made the series more gripping. Though this change resulted in two more series and six more Christmas specials, by 1993's Fatal Extraction the revised formula was also beginning to get repetitive. After a whole series and a couple of specials in which Rodney and Cassandra's marital strife played a prominent part, Sullivan finally reconciled them but then quickly moved onto writing similar problems for Del and Raquel. By this stage Only Fools and Horses existed only as an annual festive event and, while there was a laudable realism to the romantic difficulties these characters faced, the downbeat nature of their endless fallings out was beginning to leave a bad taste after a bellyful of Christmas pudding.

    Fatal Extraction lasts for 85 minutes and for a good deal of that runtime it meanders. It often does so entertainingly, with plenty of good gags and smart dialogue to keep the interest up, but it ultimately becomes a bit wearing just following Del and Rodney from flat to pub to van and hearing them thrash out the same issues of male pride and relationship crises. The actual plot, involving an apparently obsessive dental receptionist who begins haunting Del after he cancels a date he impulsively arranged with her, is a half-hearted riff on Fatal Attraction, already a tired reference point by the time this episode aired. Fatal Extraction spends so long just hanging out with the characters that it doesn't leave itself enough time to properly develop the central premise, meaning that the strange atmosphere falls flat rather than inspiring the sense of entertaining unease at which it appears to be aiming.

    There are plenty of big laughs in Fatal Extraction, including some of the best Trigger jokes Sullivan ever wrote, while other sequences are notable for their unusually ambitious staging, such as a scene of a drunken Del serenading the entirety of Nelson Mandela House, or some comparatively large scale depictions of rioting. But other moments fail to land completely, such as a highly unlikely reveal about Marlene being an old girlfriend Del was struggling to remember, or an over-the-top scene of police and rioters standing aside to let Del through in the Capri Ghia. The final image is thoroughly predictable and wholly unsatisfying, leaving the episode on a disappointingly depressing note. As Only Fools and Horses would subsequently disappear for three years, many people assumed that this would be the final episode, and what a peculiar and unfitting final note this would've been. Fortunately, Sullivan was presumably just taking the time to work out how to appropriately end a series that has clearly run its course. The subsequent Christmas trilogy of 1996 delivered that perfect ending, while the 21st century comeback episodes proved that the show really had run out of steam. If only that wonderful final trilogy had remained as the official denouement... but that's a story for another time.

    In the wake of the extended disappearance of Only Fools and Horses from the festive schedules and then its triumphant return, the peculiar anomaly of Fatal Extraction was largely forgotten. It's not one of the more frequently repeated or discussed episodes and it does fall well short in terms of plot, but for fans there are still plenty of good lines and funny gags to relish.
    9hitchcockthelegend

    Fatal Extraction. December 25th 1993

    Not since the early 1980s had the show actually had Xmas Specials that featured Xmas as part of the story, so it was nice to finally get one that does, and what a Christmas Cracker it proved to be. The title is a play on Fatal Attraction and the episode takes the core essence of that serious thriller and turns it into a riot of gags and situations. Dentist problems, stalking, trying to get pregnant, estate riot and of course the stress of Xmas are all played out with splendid results. The screenplay gives Del and Raquel the chance to play deadly serious as their relationship hits problems, but this also produces some seriously funny moments as the fall out takes them elsewhere… Lovely Jubbly. 9/10

    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The "rioters" were students from the Old Vic drama school in Bristol, including former chorister Aled Jones.
    • Goofs
      Rodney tells Cassandra that Del did not turn for his O-Level/GCE exams and got eight straight 'A's which stood for "Absent", yet in the second Rock & Chips (2010) episode, "Five Gold Rings (2010)", Del was shown to have left school before taking his GCE's. His family were fully aware of it, and they did not send Del back to school because he was their breadwinner.
    • Quotes

      Raquel Turner: The only time my clothes look fashionable is when I'm watching UK Gold!

    • Connections
      Features Crimewatch UK (1984)
    • Soundtracks
      Only Fools And Horses
      (uncredited)

      Written by John Sullivan

      Performed by John Sullivan

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 25, 1993 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Instagram
    • Language
      • English
    • Production companies
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 25m(85 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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