to Ada was not an entirely happy one, and the two were estranged by the late 1960s, though never formally divorced. They had no children. Albert was famed for telling stories that often began with the words "During the war...", which often annoyed Del and Rodney but almost always caught their interest once he started telling them the story. In Albert's final appearance in the series (Time On Our Hands, the third and final chapter of the 1996 Christmas trilogy), a frustrated Del cuts Albert off at "During th..." by threatening to pour a cup of tea over his head should he complete the sentence "During the war...". Albert restarts his anecdote with, "During the 1939-1945 conflict with Germany..." Albert was less of a help than a hindrance; in Time on Our Hands, Albert ruins a long anticipated dinner with Raquel's parents (whom she had not spoken to for many years). After hours of preparation and worrying about the meal, and the oversized table, everything appears to be going well until Del realises that Albert has confused the jars containing coffee and gravy granules. By this time, however, it is too late; the guests have already poured coffee over their meals. Before eating, Del punishes Albert by pouring the "gravy" all over his meal. The meal is abandoned early, and Raquel goes to fetch the "coffee". In Del Boy's own words: "Not only have you managed to sink every battleship and aircraft carrier that you've ever sailed on, but now you've gone and knackered a gravy boat!" Albert had a female companion called Elsie Partridge, who was first mentioned by Rodney in The Unlucky Winner Is..., and appeared in the episode Sickness and Wealth. His nephews often teased him about this as well as his ability to sink ships and, with his bald head and big white beard, his resemblance to Captain Birdseye. Although Del and Rodney often teased Albert, they showed their care for him when they found out he had died in If They Could See Us Now, and they both regretted not taking him on holiday with them before he died (although Albert never held a passport). Damien, as a joke, hides Cassandra's birth control pills in Albert's urn. Originally, the final episode of Only Fools and Horses was meant to be Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, with Del Boy leaving for Australia with new partner