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*'''Guest Stars''': Kevin Eldon as 'The Cleaner', Chris Larner as Freddie, Mark Aikean as Ben, Ben Homewood as the Young Monk, Paul Beech as the Abbott |
*'''Guest Stars''': Kevin Eldon as 'The Cleaner', Chris Larner as Freddie, Mark Aikean as Ben, Ben Homewood as the Young Monk, Paul Beech as the Abbott |
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*'''Previous Episode''': [[Manny's First Day]] |
*'''Previous Episode''': [[Manny's First Day]] |
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| − | *'''Next Episode''': [[ |
+ | *'''Next Episode''': [[The Blackout]]</th></tr></table> |
| − | '''Grapes of Wrath''' is the third episode of the first series of the British sitcom, [[Black Books (sitcom)|''Black Books'']]. It originally aired on the 13th of October, 2000. The script was written by [[ |
+ | ''''Grapes of Wrath'''' is the third episode of the first series of the British sitcom, [[Black Books (sitcom)|''Black Books'']]. It originally aired on the 13th of October, 2000. The script was written by [[Dylan Moran]] and [[Graham Linehan]], who also directed the episode. |
== Plot synopsis == |
== Plot synopsis == |
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| − | The episode opens with a pre-credits scene in a monastery in Bordeaux, 1900, in which one of the monks (Ben Homewood) rushes to his abbott (Paul Beech), informing him that a bunch of grapes have grown from a rose bush. They decide to make a wine from the grapes, which they say "will be fit for the Holy Father himself". After the opening credits, the show returns to its original format, in which [[Manny Bianco|Manny]] ([[ |
+ | The episode opens with a pre-credits scene in a monastery in Bordeaux, 1900, in which one of the monks (Ben Homewood) rushes to his abbott (Paul Beech), informing him that a bunch of grapes have grown from a rose bush. They decide to make a wine from the grapes, which they say "will be fit for the Holy Father himself". After the opening credits, the show returns to its original format, in which [[Manny Bianco|Manny]] ([[Bill Bailey]]), after seeing the state of the house, decides to bring in '[[The Cleaner]]', to see if he can improve the house's cleanliness. When a furious [[Bernard Black|Bernard]] (Dylan Moran) finds out that this means they have to leave the house, both Manny and Bernard are forced to house-sit for their friend, Freddie (Chris Larner), who had tried to bribe them into house-sitting for him by offering them a massaging machine earlier in the episode. |
| − | Meanwhile, Fran ([[ |
+ | Meanwhile, Fran ([[Tamsin Greig]]) is going out on a date and, after a series of unsuccessful ones, wants this one to go well, and buys herself a dress and makes a special effort to impress Ben (Mark Aikean), her date. However, she quickly starts embarassing herself and begins to notice something strange about Ben, and the fact that he talks with his mother 4-5 times a day. |
Meanwhile, Manny is being shown around the house by Freddie, who explains about two racks of wine in the cellar. The larger rack is cheap wine which Manny and Bernard can drink as many bottles as they want, however, the smaller rack is expensive wine, one of which is worth $7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, once Freddie has left, Manny mistakes the expensive rack for the cheap one, and they begin drinking thousands of pounds worth of wine. They come across a wine called 'Le Vin du Rosier', the wine made from the rose bush in the pre-credits scene which is worth £7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, Manny and Bernard drink the entire bottle unaware. |
Meanwhile, Manny is being shown around the house by Freddie, who explains about two racks of wine in the cellar. The larger rack is cheap wine which Manny and Bernard can drink as many bottles as they want, however, the smaller rack is expensive wine, one of which is worth $7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, once Freddie has left, Manny mistakes the expensive rack for the cheap one, and they begin drinking thousands of pounds worth of wine. They come across a wine called 'Le Vin du Rosier', the wine made from the rose bush in the pre-credits scene which is worth £7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, Manny and Bernard drink the entire bottle unaware. |
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| − | *The woman walking past Freddie's house when Bernard is hitting Manny with a tree branch is Fran's friend, Julie, who recently gave birth in the episode, [[ |
+ | *The woman walking past Freddie's house when Bernard is hitting Manny with a tree branch is Fran's friend, Julie, who recently gave birth in the episode, [[Cooking the Books]]. |
== External Links == |
== External Links == |
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Revision as of 16:31, 1 July 2009
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'Grapes of Wrath' is the third episode of the first series of the British sitcom, Black Books. It originally aired on the 13th of October, 2000. The script was written by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, who also directed the episode.
Plot synopsis
The episode opens with a pre-credits scene in a monastery in Bordeaux, 1900, in which one of the monks (Ben Homewood) rushes to his abbott (Paul Beech), informing him that a bunch of grapes have grown from a rose bush. They decide to make a wine from the grapes, which they say "will be fit for the Holy Father himself". After the opening credits, the show returns to its original format, in which Manny (Bill Bailey), after seeing the state of the house, decides to bring in 'The Cleaner', to see if he can improve the house's cleanliness. When a furious Bernard (Dylan Moran) finds out that this means they have to leave the house, both Manny and Bernard are forced to house-sit for their friend, Freddie (Chris Larner), who had tried to bribe them into house-sitting for him by offering them a massaging machine earlier in the episode.
Meanwhile, Fran (Tamsin Greig) is going out on a date and, after a series of unsuccessful ones, wants this one to go well, and buys herself a dress and makes a special effort to impress Ben (Mark Aikean), her date. However, she quickly starts embarassing herself and begins to notice something strange about Ben, and the fact that he talks with his mother 4-5 times a day.
Meanwhile, Manny is being shown around the house by Freddie, who explains about two racks of wine in the cellar. The larger rack is cheap wine which Manny and Bernard can drink as many bottles as they want, however, the smaller rack is expensive wine, one of which is worth $7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, once Freddie has left, Manny mistakes the expensive rack for the cheap one, and they begin drinking thousands of pounds worth of wine. They come across a wine called 'Le Vin du Rosier', the wine made from the rose bush in the pre-credits scene which is worth £7000 and is being presented to the Pope. However, Manny and Bernard drink the entire bottle unaware.
Meanwhile, Fran discovers what is wrong with her date, and confirms it when she asked him "What do the following people have in common: Elton John, Ian McKellen, Jean-Paul Gaultier?" to which he replied "Well they're all fabulous". Meanwhile, Manny, after some research, discovers that 'La Vin du Rosier' is worth £7000, and remembers that he mistook the cheap rack for the expensive. However, Bernard has a plan to resolve the issue: to create a new strain of super-wine to replace a the one they just drank, with Manny as an assistant.
Manny chips a tooth and develops a limp, and, with Bernard's wild hair and the thunderstorm outside, makes a startling resemblance to Dr. Frankenstein and Igor in 'Frankenstein'. However, somehow, by mixing some Londis wine, nutmeg and a branch from an oak tree, they produce a bottle of wine, which they think resembles the original. One month later, the house has returned to its original, messy state. Fran comes in, showing off her new date, The Cleaner, and Bernard unfolds a newspaper with the headline "Pope killed by inferior wine - Man (Freddie) held".
Cultural references
- The episode is named after the novel 'The Grapes of Wrath', written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939.
- When Bernard is attempting to make a replacment for 'La Vin de Rosier', Manny develeps a limp and chips his tooth, making his face look deformed. With Bernard's wild hair and the thunderstorm outside, he makes a statling resemblance to Igor and Dr. Frankenstein in the Mary Shelly novel, 'Franenstein'.
- The songs that play during Fran and Ben's date are 'Big Spender' written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. and 'I've Never Been To Me' by Charlene. However, in the latter, the music is correct, but the lyrics are wrong. The song in the show goes "I've been to Gorgia and California and I've sipped champaigne from a shoe", when the real song goes "I've been to Gorgia and California and anywhere I could run" and "I've been to Niece and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champaigne on a yacht".
Quotations
- Bernard: [gibbering to himself while trying to make a bottle of wine] They'd all laugh at me if they knew what I was trying to do... to create a new strain of super-wine in a half an hour with a fraction of nature's resources and a FOOL for an assistant. "Bernard Black, he's mad," they'd say. "He's insane. He's dangerous." Well I'll show them! I'll show them all!
- Manny: You are a filth wizard. Friend only to the pig and the rat. Ugh. Look!
[Manny opens a pizza box]
Bernard: Pizza. I was going to warm it and eat it later. Everybody does that. That's normal. You are just looking for things to complain about.
Manny: And what are these?
Bernard: ... wasps.
- Bernard: It's all waffle! Nobody is prepared to admit that wine doesn't have a taste.
Manny: Of course you can't taste anything, you smoke eighty bajillion cigarettes a day. What's that you're eating?
Bernard: It's some sort of delicious biscuit.
Manny: It's a coaster!
Trivia
- The woman walking past Freddie's house when Bernard is hitting Manny with a tree branch is Fran's friend, Julie, who recently gave birth in the episode, Cooking the Books.
External Links
[1] 'Grapes of Wrath' on IMDb
[2] 'List of Black Books episodes' on Wikipedia
[2] 'Grapes of Wrath' on TV.com