"Miami Twice" is the two-part tenth Christmas special edition of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The first episode, on-screen subtitle "The American Dream", was first screened on 24 December 1991. The second episode of "Miami Twice" was first screened the following day, 25 December 1991. The second episode is subtitled "Oh to Be in England".
When "Oh To Be in England" was originally broadcast on Christmas Day it ran at 95 minutes. Subsequent repeats on BBC One often edited this to 85 minutes. Material removed in the shorter version included sections of dialogue in the introduction where Del and Rodney discuss how the trip was paid for and that "there will be no women on this trip," as well as two scenes back in Peckham, in the flat with Albert and Raquel, and in the Nag's Head when Del appears on the Six O'Clock News.
On the 1998 VHS release (and subsequent DVD release), it was reedited as one episode, and titled "Miami Twice: The Movie". This contains a number of edits from the original. The final scene of Del and Rodney in the departure lounge in "The American Dream" which segues in the end credits was removed, alongside part of the scene in the bar during "Oh To Be in England". The usual musical replacements were also made in some scenes. Notably in this version a laugh track is added to "Oh To Be In England".
The episodes are available separately on iTunes, Amazon Prime and Netflix with the original broadcast music and no laughter track on "Oh To Be In England". However, the shorter 85-minute version of "Oh To Be in England" is the version used on these sites.
David Jason chose the second episode as his favourite episode of Only Fools and Horses in 2015, recalling its background on a special pre-recorded clip that was broadcast before a repeat of the episode on Gold as a forerunner for the Only Fools and Horses Top 20 series.
Synopsis
Miami Twice – Part One: The American Dream
The episode opens with Damien's christening, shortly after which Del Boy concludes a deal with the vicar to sell "pre-blessed" communion wine from Romania. The vicar will bless lorry loads of wine, which will then be sold to churches all over the UK. Meanwhile, Rodney is beginning to reconcile with Cassandra, staying with her on weekends, and has learned from Alan that having resigned from his job with Parry Print Ltd in "The Chance of a Lunchtime", Rodney can now claim his pension money.
A few days later, at Sid's cafe, Del tells Rodney about how he can get him and Cassandra back together instantly: a holiday to Miami, for which Del has already bought tickets – with Rodney's pension money. Del's "pre-blessed" wine deal also falls through; the wine he intends to use turns out to be Romanian Riesling, which is white and unsuitable for communion.
An irate Rodney returns home later that night, having learned that Cassandra has important meetings with her bosses at the bank that week and thus cannot go with him. Despite Rodney's initial nervousness to the idea, Del persuades his brother to let him go with him instead. The episode ends as the Trotter Brothers board their Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 plane to America (satirically encountering Richard Branson).
Miami Twice – Part Two: Oh to Be in England
With Del Boy and Rodney having arranged a holiday to Miami, this one takes place predominantly in that location. It emerges that boss of a local mafia family, a Don Vito Corleone parody named Don Vincenzo "Vinny the Chain" Ochetti, is on trial and facing life imprisonment for murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. Ochetti is also a doppelgänger for Del Boy (and is thus also played by David Jason). When his son Rico is with members of the family in a bar, they notice Del. Befriending him and Rodney, they hatch a plot to assassinate Del with the intention of tricking the public into thinking that the Don himself has been murdered, thus sparing him the trial and certain imprisonment.
After arranging for their camper van to be robbed, the group invite Del and Rodney to stay at the family mansion. Over the following days, several attempts to kill Del, including shooting him in a beach-side restaurant and sending him off on a jet ski with a broken throttle, fail.