Del Boy

Derek Edward Trotter (born 12 July 1948), more commonly known as "Del Boy", is the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. He was played by David Jason in the original series ^[1] and will be portrayed as a teenager by James Buckley in the prequel Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Chips.^[2].

Personality

The character is famous for sayings such as "Gordon Bennett", "he who dares wins" and "This time next year we'll be Millionaires!". Also usually in a chat with Rodney, he may say "Mum said on her death bed..." and usually lies to get Rodney to do something he does not want to do himself. ^[3] He attempts, and fails, to give the impression he speaks French and has a penchant for ghastly, extravagant cocktails (such as Bailey's and Cherryade).

Personal life

Family

His mother Joan died on 12 March 1964 — after an apparent long string of illnesses. Two weeks afterwards, his lazy father Reginald left, taking most of their money and even Del's 16th birthday cake, leaving a teenage Derek as the sole breadwinner of the abandoned Trotter family. Del's grandfather was not up to taking the lead, his best efforts having failed, so Del was left to look after him and Rodney, his younger brother, who was born twelve years after him in 1960 (even though in "Big Brother", Del said that Rodney was born thirteen years after him, changing Rodney's year of birth to 1961).

Del lives with Rodney, his "significant other" Raquel and their son Damien at door 368 on the 12th floor of the fictional Nelson Mandela House in Dockside Estate, Peckham, London.

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 although not intellectual he is quick-witted, 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. He never hesitates to remind people about how he practically brought Rodney up on his own after their mother died and father left, often using this fact against Rodney to gain the moral high ground whenever the two of them have an argument about anything.

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 (although this is acting on information given to him by Sid who was only estimating Del's age). 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 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. In "Tea for Three" (series 5, 1986), Rodney tells Trigger's niece Lisa that Del's 46th birthday is coming up, making Del's year of birth 1940, however the context in which the scene was acted gave the impression Rodney was lying to give the impression Del was older then he actually was.

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."

Although he maintains a tough exterior, family means a lot to Del. He still mourns the death of his mother and runs T.I.T.CO with his younger brother, Rodney. Del takes great pride in having raised Rodney after their mother's premature death and 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 dies, his role in the family trio is taken up by his younger brother (and Del's godfather) Albert, who received the same level of respect (and light-hearted abuse).

Popularity

The popularity of the character was only enhanced by a wonderful piece of physical comedy often voted 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, unbeknownst 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, David 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.

References