Kurt at 12:53, 14 March 2023

2023-03-14T12:53:46Z

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2020}}~~
	{{Infobox television episode		{{Infobox television episode
	\| series = [[Only Fools and Horses]]		\| series = [[Only Fools and Horses]]
	\| image = Only Fools Mother Nature's Son.jpg		\| image = Only Fools Mother Nature's Son.jpg
	~~\| image_size = 250~~
	\| caption = Del and Rodney bottle their Peckham Spring water		\| caption = Del and Rodney bottle their Peckham Spring water
	\| series_no =		\| series_no =
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	==External links==		==External links==
	~~{{Wikiquote\|Only Fools and Horses#Mother Nature's Son\|Mother Nature's Son}}~~
	*{{BBC episode\|id=p00bgq0f}}		*{{BBC episode\|id=p00bgq0f}}
	*{{IMDb episode\|0666564}}		*{{IMDb episode\|0666564}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Only Fools and Horses]]
| image = Only Fools Mother Nature's Son.jpg
| image_size = 250
| caption = Del and Rodney bottle their Peckham Spring water
| series_no =
| episode = 11<br>(Christmas Special)
| writer = [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]]
| director = [[Tony Dow (director)|Tony Dow]]
| producer = [[Gareth Gwenlan]]
| airdate = {{Start date|1992|12|25|df=yes}}
| length = 65 minutes
| prev = [[Miami Twice|Miami Twice (The American Dream) & (Oh to Be in England)]]
| next = [[Fatal Extraction]]
| episode_list = List of Only Fools and Horses episodes
}}

"'''Mother Nature's Son'''" is the eleventh [[Christmas special]] episode of the [[BBC]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''. It was first broadcast on 25 December 1992. In the episode, Del sells tap water as ''Peckham Spring''.

==Synopsis==
With [[Christmas]] coming, Del's application to buy the Trotter family's [[council flat]] in "[[Yuppy Love]]" has finally been granted, albeit rather late and suddenly, meaning that he now owns the flat, but is not as able to pay the mortgage as he was originally planning to. He also inherits [[Grandad (Only Fools and Horses)|Grandad]]'s old [[Allotment (gardening)|allotment]] and receives a summons from the council, ordering him to remove a public health hazard from his land. The health hazard turns out to be barrels containing an unknown yellow substance. Del enlists [[Trigger (Only Fools and Horses)|Trigger]] and [[Denzil Tulser|Denzil]] to help him get rid of the yellow liquid, saying he will help them (though he wears a diving suit), by transporting it in Denzil's van to the "24-hour" council waste disposal depot (which is closed at night), although they ultimately dump it "in a pond".

Del accompanies [[Rodney Trotter|Rodney]] to an organic health food shop owned by a wealthy gardening enthusiast named Myles. When he sees the high price of the store's produce, Del develops an interest in gardening and invites Myles to the allotment to advise him on growing vegetables. At the allotment, Myles notices a mysterious water source - which Del calls the ''Peckham Spring'' - and suggests that if the water is pure, it could be bottled and sold. However, unsighted by Myles, Rodney notices that the "spring water" is actually coming from a nearby tap connected to a hose and concealed by rocks. Del instructs Albert to take a sample of the water for laboratory testing but, being part of the scam, Albert uses bottled mineral water instead. The water receives a certificate of purity from Myles' committee, giving Del permission to sell it.

A production line is set up in the Trotters' flat, with Del filling up bottles from his kitchen tap. ''Peckham Spring Water'' quickly becomes one of Myles' biggest-selling products, and is given a trial at a major national supermarket. Sales are further boosted by the drought warnings issued by the local water board, who believe there is a serious underground leak due to the high volume of water being used by Del. The Trotters earn enough money for a Christmas holiday at the [[Grand Hotel (Brighton)|Grand Hotel]], [[Brighton]]. In the final scene, as the Trotter family go to sleep in their hotel rooms, the [[BBC News]] reports that Peckham is without water after a local reservoir has been contaminated by the barrels dumped by Del, Denzil, and Trigger. As a blissfully unaware Del switches off the light, a bottle of ''Peckham Spring'' on his bedside table glows yellow, indicating that he has been giving the barrels' contents to his customers.

==Episode cast==
{|
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
! Actor
! Role
|-
| [[David Jason]]
| [[Del Boy|Derek Trotter]]
|-
| [[Nicholas Lyndhurst]]
| [[Rodney Trotter]]
|-
| [[Buster Merryfield]]
| [[Uncle Albert|Albert Trotter]]
|-
| [[Tessa Peake-Jones]]
| [[Raquel Turner]]
|-
| [[Gwyneth Strong]]
| [[Cassandra Trotter]]
|-
| [[Paul Barber (actor)|Paul Barber]]
| [[Denzil Tulser]]
|-
| [[John Challis]]
| [[Boycie]]
|-
| [[Robert Glenister]]
| Myles
|-
| [[Sue Holderness]]
| Marlene
|}
|width="50"| 
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
! Actor
! Role
|-
| [[Kenneth MacDonald (English actor)|Kenneth MacDonald]]
| [[Mike Fisher (Only Fools and Horses)|Mike Fisher]]
|-
| [[Roger Lloyd-Pack]]
| [[Trigger (Only Fools and Horses)|Trigger]]
|-
| Robert Liddement
| [[Damien Trotter]]
|-
| [[Denis Lill]]
| Alan Parry
|-
| [[Tony Marshall (actor)|Tony Marshall]]
| Chris
|-
| [[Patrick Murray (actor)|Patrick Murray]]
| Mickey Pearce
|-
| [[Wanda Ventham]]
| Pamela Parry
|-
| [[Richard Whitmore]]
| Himself
|}
|}

==Episode concept==
*The idea for the script was based on a real-life incident where people had their water supply closed as something had been dumped in a nearby reservoir.<ref>[http://www.ofah.net/immediacy-371 Did You Know?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118005547/http://www.ofah.net/immediacy-371 |date=18 November 2007 }} ofah.net</ref>

==Music==
* '''[[Slade]]''': "[[Merry Xmas Everybody]]"
* '''[[Carl Orff]]''': "[[O Fortuna]]" from ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]''
* '''[[Elton John]]''': "[[Crocodile Rock]]"
* '''[[Take That]]''': "[[Could It Be Magic]]"
* '''[[Bjorn Again]]''': "[[Santa Claus Is Coming To Town]]"
* '''[[The Beatles]]''': "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]"

Note: In the VHS/DVD versions, The Beatles' "Money" is replaced by an instrumental tune, and Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" is replaced by a similar-sounding piece of music.

==Legacy==
In 2004, [[the Coca-Cola Company]] launched their [[bottled water]] brand [[Dasani]] in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|author=Matthew Beard|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-real-thing-cokes-water-comes-straight-from-the-tap-with-a-cool-mark-up-of-3000-per-cent-71689.html|title=The real thing? Coke's water comes straight from the tap with a cool mark-up of 3,000 per cent|work=[[The Independent]]|date=2004-03-02|accessdate=2008-06-21 | location=London}}</ref> Due to the proximity of the bottling plant in [[Sidcup]] to real life Peckham, along with a contamination scandal leading to the product's withdrawal,<ref name="Coke recalls controversial water">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3550063.stm | title=Coke recalls controversial water | publisher=BBC |date=2004-03-19}}</ref> comparisons were often made to the events in Mother Nature's Son in the press.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/coke-pulls-plug-on-70m-dasani-6969685.html|title=Coke pulls plug on £70m Dasani|date=2004-03-25|website=Evening Standard|language=en|access-date=2020-03-10}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Only Fools and Horses#Mother Nature's Son|Mother Nature's Son}}
*{{BBC episode|id=p00bgq0f}}
*{{IMDb episode|0666564}}

{{Only Fools and Horses episodes}}

[[Category:1992 British television episodes]]
[[Category:British Christmas television episodes]]
[[Category:Only Fools and Horses special episodes]]

Mother Nature's Son (Only Fools and Horses) - Revision history

Kurt at 12:53, 14 March 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Butlerblog: /* top */format date per :Template:Infobox television episode