Set in the 1960s, Joan Trotter is in an unhappy marriage with the work-shy Reg, with whom she has a teenage son, Derek ("Del Boy"). However, the reappearance in Peckham of bank robber, "art connoisseur" and womaniser Freddie Robdal, recently released after a ten year prison sentence, would bring about changes in Joan's life. Rock & Chips centred on the relationships between the glamorous Joan Trotter, Del's useless father Reg, the safe-cracker Freddie Robdal and the young Del Boy. It featured teenage incarnations of some of the original show's regular characters, including Boycie, Trigger, Denzil, and Jumbo Mills.

It is Christmas, 1960, and Cupid's little arrows are flying through the wintery skies over Peckham. Fred is in love with his new charlady; Joan is in love with her new baby, Rodney; and Del is about to get engaged three times in the same week.

Joan longs for a new life, so Reg finds her a job as a charlady. Del also has new aspirations - to become a movie producer. If only he could find the finance. Maybe his latest squeeze might persuade her father to invest... that would provide the answer to both of their problems!