Garth: Look, I sometimes feel as if I don't know ya.
Darryl: Don't be stupid, o' course you know me. My name's "Darryl". I'm ya dad.
— Garth Stubbs trying to connect with his father Darryl.
- Date First Aired: 13/09/1994
Tracey is going through letters intended for Darryl and finds one from someone asking him for a pool. Just then, Dorien comes in, claiming that her boy Kebah has won the Albert Sithole prize for mathematics. Of course, Dorien doesn't have a child, so she reveals that Kebah is an African orphan she's supporting. Afterwards, Sharon decides that she and Tracey can just do the job themselves.
Whilst Garth is considering committing himself to a cause, Sharon gives Tracey tips on sorting out a deal for a swimming pool, something which Tracey manages to do. However, this is still the issue with tiles and all, so Tracey tries to get into contact with a former friend of Darryl's, called Poxy Loxy who would know this stuff. Meanwhile, Dorien suggests to Garth to contact his father, theorising that he much of his current feelings about the world may have stemmed from a lack of contact with Darryl. He does go and they talk about wanting to spend more time with each other, with Darryl admitting that he hasn't been the greatest of fathers.
Soon, the pool is constructed and the sisters get about £7,500. After this, the nearby neighbour wants to have a pool as well, wanting to one-up his neighbour.
Tropes in this episode:
- Alliterative Name: Darryl mentions someone who owned motorcycles called Sideways Sam.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Dorien on the protest marches she did in college:Dorien: I went on my share of protest marches. There was Vietnam, get the Russians out of Czechoslovakia, get soft loo papers in the students' union.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Tracey asks what Sharon is doing when she gets the phonebook to try to find out more about swimming pools.Tracey: What are you doin'?Sharon: I'm buyin' a book on fly-fishing. (Beat) What does it look like I'm doing?
- Bait-and-Switch: Tracey tells Sharon that thanks to Kenny and his boys they won't be making £5,000... they'll be making £7,500 instead!
- Bite of Affection: Loxy bites Dorien when she showed a desire to be held. Keep in mind that he's a bit of a pervert with a constant desire to have sex with her.Tracey: Look, I know 'e's a sleazeball, but his bark's worse than his bite.Dorien: Oh yes, do you want see the teeth marks?
- Brief Accent Imitation: Sharon puts on a slightly posher accent when trying to find out about swimming pools. Tracey does the same when speaking to her client, Mr. Hughes.
- Casanova Wannabe: Loxy, who spends his time trying to get in Tracey's and Dorien's pants.
- Character Name Alias: Sharon uses "Mrs. J. R. Hartley", which was the name of a character from British Yellow Pages adverts.
- Comically Missing the Point: Dorien talks about the scarf and gloves she got Kebah from Harrods. When Sharon points out he lives in Africa, Dorien tells her she knows that and they don't have a Harrods in Africa, missing the point it's too hot to wear a scarf and gloves.
- Curse Cut Short: Sharon almost says "dicks" before she's interrupted by the phone.Sharon: Pleased? He'd be as proud as a dog with two di- Oh, hello!
- Deadpan Snarker: Garth isn't impressed by Dorien's college days:Dorien: D'you know, when I was at college most of my friends were either dropping out or sitting in.Garth: What were you doin' - lyin' down?
- Didn't Think This Through: Sharon figures out a plan making money out of installing swimming pools. Unfortunately, she never thought to consider where they were going to get all of the equipment from.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite Dorien's sex crazed nature, even she finds that Loxy's attempts to have sex with her disgusting.
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: Dorien gives Kebah a scarf and gloves from Harrods for his birthday... even though he's from Africa, a country not exactly known for it's cold weather. Tellingly, the last thing we hear of him, he had collapsed from heatstroke as a result of wearing the clothes in question in very hot temperatures.
- The Ghost:
- Kebah, an African child that Dorien sponsors.
- Eric, Phil, Curtis and Adam, who all work for Kenny.
- Tracey recalls Robbo, Big Henry and Sideways Sam, some of Darryl's old mates.
- Johnny Gibson, of Gibson Pools.
- Gilligan Cut: After Tracey tells Sharon there's no way they could build a swimming pool, the scene cuts to Sharon measuring Mr. Hughes' garden.
- Goofy Print Underwear: Loxy offers to show his novelty print boxer shorts to Tracey.Poxy Loxy: On the front it says "Danger: Men at work".Tracey: Very witty.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Mr. Hughes' neighbour is so jealous of his pool that he has one built for himself just so he can have something bigger and nicer.
- Lethal Chef: Sharon's cooking is apparently bad enough that it causes some of the builders to throw up.
- Literal-Minded: When Garth says he sometimes feels like he doesn't know him, Darryl doesn't realise he means emotionally and tells Garth that of course he knows who he is.
- Mistaken for Gay: Garth is horrified when he thinks Dorien is implying that he's looking for a man.
- Noodle Incident: Darryl once took Garth fishing when he was six. Well, Darryl says it was fishing but it was really nicking jellied eels from a fishmongers.
- One-Shot Character: Mincin' Vincent and Mr. Hughes.
- One-Steve Limit: Kenny mentions working with two guys called Eric and Phil, who share names with One Shot Characters from "All Gone Pear Shaped" and "Substitute".
- Plumber's Crack: Tracey reckons that she wouldn't make an effective laborer as she doesn't have the appropriate bum cleavage.
- Remember the New Guy?: Inverted; Dorien brings up Kebah, an African child she sponsors, and Tracey and Sharon are just as confused as the audience to who he is.
- Rhyming Names: Poxy Loxy, a former friend of Darryl's.
- Shout-Out:
- Sharon uses the alias of Mrs. J. R. Hartley, a reference to a character of the same name who appeared in adverts for the British Yellow Pages.
- Garth mentions reading Iron John: A Book About Men to Darryl.
- Sharon sings "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" from Gold Diggers of 1933 when she looks at the cheque they got for installing the pool.
- Story Arc: This episode marks the beginning of Sharon and Tracey's pool business, which will continue right up to around the start of the next series.
- Unusual Euphemism: Sharon initially thinks that "Kebah" is one of Dorien's private parts before she clarifies he is an African child she sponsors.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Kenny mentions Sharon's food making Eric and Phil throw up, although this is never shown on screen.
