RIP Diane Langton, II

Of course the other Only Fools and Horses episode Diane Langton starred as Junie Snell in other than Happy Returns was A Royal Flush, i.e. nobody's favorite:

While the dinner scene towards the end of the episode was being filmed, writer John Sullivan was filming Just Good Friends in Paris. Sullivan said he later regretted this and was unhappy with the scene. Producer Ray Butt agreed and took responsibility for the scene, stating that he thought "David [Jason] went a bit over the top" and that "Del turned too nasty and lost his warmth." Later, Jason also conceded that "perhaps that scene wasn't as good as it could have been."

David Jason, John Sullivan and Ray Butt all considered this to be the worst episode of the series. In a 2003 interview, when Sullivan was asked what one thing he would have done differently while writing the series, he replied that he would not have made this episode.

Del's out-of-character cruelty throughout the episode and, in particular the dinner table scene, could be accountable to the fact that only a few months before, Rodney scuppered Del's opportunity to go to Australia to be a partner in Jumbo Mills company. He could therefore have been harbouring a lot of bitterness toward Rodney, thus seizing his chance to completely ruin things for him in return.

The seemingly darker style of this episode's story did not go down well with the original TV broadcast audience, or the hardcore fan base, especially as Del Boy seemed to be out of character, and the longer episode format seemed to have lost its established feelgood vibe. The production troubles, lack of live studio audience reactions, and also the fact John Sullivan regretted writing this episode, suggests that this episode can be skipped.

I can agree with all of that but I also kinda have it in the "meh, it's fine" category (a small fraternity within OFAH!) but it does have genuine LOL bits such as the Iggy Iggins thing but it's also let down by its lack of a laugh track; I know we're all supposed to have evolved past the silly ol' laugh track from the olden days but when you're so used to it like you are on a show like Only Fools and Horses it really makes it super-odd/jarring when it's not there and it doesn't help tings if it's already a not-so-classic episode to begin with. 🤔🤷‍♂️