Dates (Only Fools and Horses) Dates (Only Fools and Horses) "Dates" is the seventh Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom, "Only Fools and Horses", first broadcast on 25 December 1988. In the episode, Del Boy joins a dating agency and meets Raquel. Rodney also goes on a date, with Nag's Head barmaid Nerys. The Trotters have been earning a lot of money recently, and Uncle Albert's birthday is approaching, which Del Boy and Rodney pretend to have forgotten. Meanwhile, after seeing a girl Trigger has met through a local dating agency, Del also decides to sign up. Styling himself "Derek Duvall", managing director of
Trigger (Only Fools and Horses) gang, his family and Freddie the Frog on the first Jolly Boys' Outing in 1960. Trigger is a relatively minor character in the prequel series, giving a daft remark every now and again, but he receives a rather notable mention in "The Frog and the Pussycat" when Violet Trotter, Del's grandmother, mentions Grandad's affair with Trigger's grandmother, Alice Ball (marking the first time in the history of the "Only Fools and Horses" franchise that Trigger's real name is mentioned). At one point in the pilot episode, Reg asks Del and Jumbo if Trigger is mentally OK, since he once spotted