The Special Relationship

"The Special Relationship" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It was first screened on 30 December 2007, as the 2007 Christmas special. Synopsis Whilst out in the fields, Boycie and Marlene are horrified when Earl digs up an unexploded hand grenade, and after throwing it as far away as possible, they take cover behind the nearest tractor – only for Earl to bring it back to them. A further search reveals that there are many old military relics in the fields, and Boycie decides to transform one of his barns into a military museum. Tyler and Bethany play a prank on Boycie by pretending to stage several interviews with international newspapers, but he catches them in the act. It turns out, however, that one of the calls he received was a genuine call from a local Peckham newspaper. Shortly after, an article in the Peckham Times about Boycie's discovery catches the eye of one Cliff Cooper (George Wendt) a billionaire American CEO from Los Angeles. Cliff then drives up to visit Oakam, and turns up unexpectedly at The Grange. He reveals that The Grange was used as an officer's barracks for an overseas US Army base near the village, and he was billeted there in the 1970s as a young army officer. Boycie and Marlene are quick to invite him to their home as a guest, and at the local pub, Cliff reminisces fondly about his posting at the village, sharing banter with Elgin (an old friend) about 'Cloud Day' – a covered-up incident in which a nuclear device stored at the local village leaked a cloud of steam through the village, and it soon emerges that Cliff was a lady's man, having had more than a few flings with the local women during his posting (although an angry Llewellyn storms that the American soldiers had an unfair advantage over the loval men because of their money, smart clothes, aftershave and regular bathing). Cliff mentions that a colleague had mentioned to him that he might well have had offspring in the village from one of his girlfriends, and it soon emerges that the girl he remembers most fondly is Mrs. Cakeworthy's mother. After checking Mrs. Cakeworthy's details in the old Landlord's files, the date reveals that her birthday was around nine months after Cliff's posting ended, and when she mentions that she never knew her father, and that her mother always talked about him being a US Army officer, they begin to suspect that she might be his daughter. He and Boycie conspire to get a DNA sample from Mrs.