An Almighty Bang

An Almighty Bang
Production Details
Written by	Jeremy Lloyd & Paul Adam
Director	Sue Longstaff
Transmission Details
Airdate	12 January 1991
Continuity
Previous	A Quiet Honeymoon
Next	Fleeing Monks

Plot

Since the secret compartment bed is impossible to fold down without the knob, René rings for monsieur Alfonse to come with his tools to try and open it. After listening through the wall with a stethoscope and having drilled a small air hole through it, monsieur Alfonse decides to put small dynamite charges at the hinges of the bed and blow them off. While René goes to ask Michelle for some dynamite, Edith decides to feed the trapped couple by pouring soup into the air hole.

At Herr Flick's headquarters, he asks Helga if the plan of getting Von Smallhausen arrested succeeded and she replies, that he was arrested, but that the old couple had already been released, so the plan did not work.

General Von Flockenstuffen enters the Germans' headquarters, which has been decorated entirely in pink. He thinks that Nouvion has become "something of a backwater as far as the war is concerned", but that is about to change. An old friend of his, general Boris Von Bratwursten, is planning a raid on the southcoast of England, in order to capture the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who will soon take a holiday in Bognor. Von Flockenstuffen puts Gruber and Von Strohm at the head of the operation, which they are not very keen on. They think they should wait until general Von Klinkerhoffen comes out of hospital, but Von Flockenstuffen informs them that he will not be coming out of hospital. In fact, he will be sent to a special hospital in Bavaria.

René and Yvette are cleaning up in the backroom. Just as Yvette passes René a vase, officer Crabtree opens the window with a large bang, scaring them both and making René drop the vase. He brings the dynamite from Michelle, stuffed down his trousers. As he takes them out, he explains that they are disguised as candles and that the first one is a real candle, while the rest are dynamite. Secondly, he wants to take the British airmen with him, in order to weigh them on the fishmongers' scales. This is so they can tell London how much they weigh, so that London sends an aircraft big enough to hold both their weights. When the three Englishmen have left, René and Yvette have a quick cuddle. Edith walks in on them, but when René has explained the situation once again, she collects the dynamite and goes upstairs, leaving all but one of the "candles" at the bar.

When Edith and René have gone upstairs, Herrs Flick and Von Smallhausen burst into the café. As they think nobody is there, they decide to go upstairs to interrogate the old couple. Meanwhile, monsieur Alfonse has charged the bed and lit the fuse of the dynamite. While he, Edith, René and Mimi are waiting outside the bedroom, the Gestapo officers come upstairs and demand to be allowed to interrogate madame Fanny and monsieur LeClerc. René tries to warn them not to go into the bedroom, but they do anyway, walking straight into the explosion, which gets the bed out. The Gestapo officers decide to carry out the interrogation "when [their] headaches are better".

At the German headquarters, Von Strohm, Gruber, Bertorelli and Helga are discussing general Von Flockenstuffen. They decide to get Von Klinkerhoffen out of hospital, so he can take charge and put things right. Helga suggests that Von Strohm and Gruber take Von Flockenstuffen to the café that same evening, to keep him distracted, while she disguises herself as a nurse, bringing Bertorelli, who will pretend to be mad, into the psychiatric wing of the hospital.

While the three officers are sitting at the café, being entertained by Edith and the girls and Gruber, Helga manages to get Bertorelli into the hospital. In Von Klinkerhoffen's room, he decides to switch places with Bertorelli and thus, they switch clothes with each other. After this, Helga manages to wheel Von Klinkerhoffen out of the hospital in the wheel chair in which she brought Bertorelli in.

At the café, Von Flockenstuffen has become very drunk. He thinks René is hiding his best wine from him and wants to check his wine cellar himself. When he is about to go down there, René informs him that there is no light and that they have no candles. However, the general finds one at the bar (which, unknown to him, is dynamite), lights it and goes down the cellar. While he is down there, Von Klinkerhoffen walks in, declaring that he is back in command and has placed Von Flockenstuffen under arrest. After the "candle" explodes, Von Flockenstuffen comes out of the cellar, with a nervous breakdown. Von Klinkerhoffen therefore sends him to the "fruitcake ward" of the hospital and when Gruber informs him that René, at great personal risk, gave Von Flockenstuffen the exploding candle, Von Klinkerhoffen says he will make sure René gets a collaboration medal.

Trivia

• This episode marks the last appearance of Ken Morley as general Von Flockenstuffen.
• Though Michelle did not appear in this episode, she is still mentioned.