Del Boy
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| Del Trotter | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Big Brother |
| Last appearance | Sleepless in Peckham |
| Portrayed by | David Jason |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Market trader, former CEO of Trotters Independent Traders |
| Spouse(s) | Raquel Turner (fiancée) |
| Children | Damien Trotter |
| Relatives | Joan Trotter (mother - deceased) Reg (father - estranged) Rodney (brother) Edward (grandfather - deceased} Albert (great uncle/godfather - deceased) George (great uncle/assumed godfather) Cassandra (Sister-in-law,wife of Rodney) Joan Trotter Jr. (Niece) |
Derek Edward Trotter (born July 12, 1948 in Deptford), more commonly known as "Del Boy", is the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. He is played by veteran actor David Jason.
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[edit] Personality
The character is famous for sayings such as "he who dares wins". His penchant for ghastly, extravagant cocktails (such as malibu and Cherryade) and his love of the go-getter lifestyle helped to popularise British yuppie culture in the 1980s.
[edit] Personal Life
[edit] Family
His mother Joan died in the 1960s - possibly 1965 - after an apparent long string of illnesses; two months afterwards, his lazy father Reginald left, taking most of their money and even Del's birthday cake, leaving a teenage Derek to bring in the money to the abandoned Trotter family. Del's Grandad wasn't up to taking a lead of the family, his best efforts failed and Del was left to look after his Grandad (Edward Trotter) and his young brother, Rodney (who was 12 years younger than him - born in 1960)
Del lives with his brother Rodney, his "significant other" Raquel and their son Damien on the 13th floor of the fictional Nelson Mandela House in Peckham, London.
[edit] Relationship with other characters
He has had many girlfriends over the course of the series and his friends include Trigger, Denzil, Boycie, Marlene and Mike. His greatest enemy is DCI Roy Slater. Derek is optimistic but not very bright, and frequently gets Rodney into trouble. In "Wanted", when a mentally unstable woman accuses Rodney of attacking her, Del makes a joke of it and says that the police have named Rodney "The Peckham Pouncer". Del is afraid of doctors and dentists. His favourite song is Old Shep, as heard in "Diamonds Are for Heather". He believes he is fluent in French when in fact is hopeless at it (he gets bonjour and au revoir mixed up). Del can't swim (he has a certificate, but it doesn't belong to him) as revealed in "Miami Twice", or fly a hang glider very well as seen in "Tea for Three". Despite being not very bright, Del Boy can be quite serious at times, such as when he tried to help Rodney get over his wife Cassandra's miscarriage, which resulted in the loss of their first attempt to have a baby.
[edit] Confusion over age
Del's year of birth is contradicted in several episodes. In "Sleepless in Peckham" (2003), Rodney shows Cassandra a photo of the 1960 Jolly Boys' Outing, and says Del was aged 15, making his date of birth around 1945. In "Go West Young Man" (series 1, 1981), Del claims to be 35, giving him a birth date of 1946. In "A Losing Streak" (series 2, 1982) and "Thicker than Water" (series 3, 1983), Del claims their father left in July 1965 on his 16th birthday, making his birth date 1949, which would have made Del 32 (and Rodney 19 or 20) around the time of series 1.
[edit] Career
Del works as a market trader, running his own company - Trotters Independent Traders (T.I.T.) - either from out of a suitcase or out of the back of his bright yellow Reliant Regal. With a never-ending supply of get-rich-quick schemes and an inner belief in his ability to sell anything to anyone, Del embroils 'the firm' (as he calls the family business) in all sorts of improbable situations. It is this unwavering confidence that led to his oft-proclaimed but rarely realised ambition "This time next year, we'll be millionaires!" Del's business acumen is probably best described by Rodney in the episode Mother Nature's Son. During a time when Del is feeling depressed about his financial situation, Rodney states that "The old Derek Trotter could smell a fiver in a force 9 gale. They used to say that if Del-Boy fell into a Viper's Pit, he'd come up wearing snake skin shoes."
Though maintaining a tough exterior, family means a lot to Del. He still mourns the death of his mother and he runs T.I.T.CO with his younger brother, Rodney. Del takes great pride in having raised Rodney after their mother's premature death. Del has never forgiven his father for running away when Rodney was just an infant. Despite their often minimal income, Del insists on caring for his elderly Grandad. When Grandad died, his role in the family trio was taken up by his younger brother (and Del's godfather) Albert, who received the same level of respect (and light-hearted abuse).
[edit] Popularity
The popularity of the character was only enhanced by a wonderful piece of physical comedy often fingered as the best of British comedy. Eyeing up a couple of girls in a yuppie wine bar, Del goes to lean on a bar flap which, unbeknown to him, has just been raised, and with a perfect pratfall drops clean out of shot.
However his luck changed in 1996 when an antique watch hidden in his garage made him an overnight millionaire. He lived the high life for 5 years before losing it all in 2001 due to a stock market crash, only to regain it thanks to Albert's will in 2003.
In part, Jason's depiction of Derek Trotter was based on a builder, Derek Hockley, for whom he had worked as an electrician. Hockley had many of the affectations outlined by Sullivan in his characterisation of Del (gold jewellery, camel-hair coat) and Jason added others, like his habit of twitching his neck.
[edit] Notes
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Albert was not Del's godfather. Del's Uncle George was his godfather, after Albert and George spun a coin.
