9. Only Fools And Horses Christmas Crackers (BBC One, 1981)
After Granddads Christmas dinner which includes turkey with the bag of giblets still inside, Del and Rodney decide to spend the evening at the Monte Carlo Club. It pains me not to put this closer to the top of the list but, as enjoyable as this episode is, the story structure drags it down a bit. Its definitely an episode of two halves with the first half being a three hander that deals with Christmas at the Trotters, and the second being one of Del and Rodneys many unsuccessful nights out. I personally feel that the episode would have worked better as a bottle episode featuring nothing more than Del, Rodney and Granddad celebrating Christmas. Apart from that little niggle, its very funny stuff. As usual, John Sullivans dialogue is absolute joy especially when combined with the casts brilliant performances. The jokes about Granddads awful cooking never feel strained despite how extensively theyre used and theres some excellent Christmas related dialogue. Its nowhere near as good as the
1996 Christmas Trilogy but out of the episodes eligible for inclusion on this list, its definitely the best.
Best Moment: Granddads Christmas dinner complete with molten plastic inside the turkey, roast potatoes that look like lumps of anthracite, and a very overcooked Christmas pudding.