As Del Boy sells cutlery to the local market crowd, Rodney encounters a pretty young woman and abandons his lookout position to talk to her.
As the conversation develops, Rodney discovers that she is Lady Victoria Marsham-Hales of Covington House, Berkshire, the daughter of the Duke of Maylebury, who is a second cousin of the Queen.
Sensing a chance to make the Trotter family millionaires, Del decides to assist Rodney's blossoming friendship with Lady Victoria by acquiring tickets for the opera Carmen.
Del takes part in their clay pigeon shoot using a pump-action shotgun borrowed from bank robber Iggy Higgins and quickly begins to anger Henry.
Back at the flat, a fuming Rodney rants to a hungover Del about how he has always ruined his opportunities to make a success of his life by getting involved and injures his hand by punching a vent cover out of annoyance.
Sullivan put these two things together when writing the episode and created the storyline of how Del would protect Rodney and at the same time "make a few bob on it".
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."
"[2] Intended to be recorded in front of a live studio audience, time constraints meant that this was not possible, and thus the original version of the episode does not include a laughter track.
Eighteen minutes of footage was removed, and the episode was screened for members of the Only Fools and Horses Appreciation Society, with their reaction recorded and serving as a new laughter track.