Question: What exactly did Del and Rodney's mother die of?
Answer: Joan Mavis Trotter (Nee Hollins) was an unseen character in Only Fools And Horses, having died in 1964, 17 years before the series began. She died of an alcohol related illness due to both her sham marriage to Reg Trotter and being hit hard by the death of her secret lover Freddie "The Frog" Robdal.
Her maiden name was not 'Hollins'; that is the name of somebody "Auntie Rose" mentioned when the Trotters believed they were staying with their auntie, but it turned out she was completely unknown to them.
Plot hole: Del says that Rodney needs to sort his priorities out about being Chairman of the Housing Committee or working the pitch. However Rodney never tells Del he is chairman (he is made chairman at the meeting in the morning and goes to find Del after the meeting as shown by the same clothes, and Del asking where he was). (00:08:30)
Suggested correction: In the 1st scene of the episode, when Rodney is getting ready for the tenants' meeting, he asks Del if he is still coming, and Del replies that he's not because he is 'going out with that little waitress I blagged from the Pizza Palace'. So the 4hrs he was on the stall must be a different occasion to when Rodney attended the tenants' meeting, and the meeting was likely in the evening. From lines in other episodes, Rod doesn't own many clothes, so the fact he is wearing the same suit is to be expected.
Agreed, the scene in the market took place at least the following day or a couple of days later. The meeting was in the evening. Trigger went 'down there' (i.e. the pub) with Baz at the end of it.
The Long Legs of the Law - S2-E1
Revealing mistake: At the very beginning of the episode, Leonard Pearce is waiting for the cue for his character to start looking for his teeth. He's standing in the living room, between his room and Del and Rodney's room. (00:00:25)
Corrected entry: Del first met Raquel in 1988 in the Christmas episode 'Dates'. At that time, Rodney had not yet met Cassandra (episode was made before series 6 and Rodney was seeing another girl). Del met Raquel again exactly a year later in this episode, and Rodney and Cassandra are somehow celebrating their first wedding anniversary.
Correction: The episodes concerned were Christmas specials one year apart but they do not take place at Christmas, and the time frame between each of the episodes could have been more than a year.
In the episode where Rodney and Cassandra get married it shows them signing the wedding register in January 1989. When they go on the jolly boys outing it's still the same year as it's stated on the poster sticking up on the couch.
The Jolly Boys' Outing - S6-E7
Corrected entry: At the railway station/bus stop scene, Alan Parry states that they will all have to look for somewhere to stay the night, as the replacement coach will be coming at 9.00am the next morning. If that arrangement had already been made, why were they looking for transport back to London that evening?
Correction: Most, if not all reasonable coach companies will pay for your travel back if you decide you don't want to stay the night, just as they would offer to pay for your accommodation. This is more than likely the reason they were looking for transport back to Peckham.
The Russians Are Coming - S1-E6
Plot hole: Del and Rodney find the nuclear shelter and decided to try it out. They then do a couple of runs to find the best place to build it. We then see the pair inside the nuclear shelter which they have built, filled with stuff like a bed, food batteries etc. all in one afternoon. (00:11:45)
Suggested correction: No reference is made to what day it is. There is nothing to suggest that the practice run and the scene inside the bunker happen on the same day.
Apart from all of them wearing the exact same outfits, Del mentioning that it needs to be back on the building site by Monday when having a weekend to try it out. All points to it taking place over the course of a day from the start of the episode to the end.
When Del refers to "it" being back on the building site by Monday morning, he is actually referring to the chemical toilet that he's acquired. He is not referring to the shelter as this was under a pile of bricks on a demolition site not a building site. Del has already assumed ownership of the shelter due to finding it under the pile of bricks he has purchased.
Chosen answer: An apparent long string of illnesses.