Only Fools and Horses

Regular cast

• Derek "Del Boy" Trotter — David Jason

Born after the war, Del became his family's main moneymaker before he left school. His gift of the gab make him a natural salesman, no matter what the quality, safety, legality or suitability of the goods in his possession. Devoted to the memory of his mother and hateful of the way his father left after her death, Del puts family high on his agenda, refusing to put Rodney into care as a child and looking after Grandad in his frailty until his death. That said, Del was never afraid to stitch up Rodney to save his own skin or pride. Popular with the ladies, Del was engaged numerous times during the 60s and 70s but never got close to marriage, only finally settling down after re-meeting Raquel and having a son with her. Del misuses French phrases as part of his wish to appear cultured but is ultimately found wanting in aesthetic situations.

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• Rodney Trotter — Nicholas Lyndhurst

Born in the early 1960s after being accidentally conceived, Rodney never got to know his parents. His mother died and his father absconded before he had barely started school, so he was brought up by his teenage brother Derek and his declining Grandad. Rodney was a bright but easily-influenced child, attaining GCE passes in maths and art before going to art college in Basingstoke, where he was thrown out after three weeks for smoking marijuana, which also earned him a criminal conviction, a fine and a suspended prison sentence. Rodney subsequently became Del's apprentice, suitcase-carrier and general whipping boy, and became the opposite to his brother cerebrally - blessed with knowledge but lacking entirely in street-wisdom or common sense, hence Del's frequent labelling of him as a "plonker". Rodney tried numerous times to take more control of the business, pursue new interests or go out on his own, but it was only after meeting Cassandra at his evening school that Del finally decided not to interfere. Rodney duly married Cassandra but continued to stay to an extent under Del's influence.

Related Topics:
Basingstoke - Marijuana

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• Grandad — Lennard Pearce

Born at the turn of the 20th century, "Grandad" on Del's father's side (Del and Rodney's absent father Reginald was his son) served in the Army during the Second World War and worked in a number of semi-skilled jobs. He was widowed early and spent much of his final years almost completely housebound, although Del made him responsible for the housekeeping and the cooking while he and Rodney went out to work. Grandad never removed his hat, watched at least two television sets at once and rarely failed to burn the meals he prepared. He died in 1985 (after the death of actor Lennard Pearce just as filming was getting underway) and was buried in the episode "Strained Relations".

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• Uncle Albert — Buster Merryfield

Born approximately five years after his elder brother "Grandad", Albert was a seaman as man and boy, initally in the Royal Navy, then the Merchant. He married Ada but the marriage didn't work out for reasons unknown, and Albert was a pensioner alone, moving to the homes of distant relation after distant relation, until attending Grandad's funeral and moving in with Del and Rodney afterwards. He took over the Grandad roles of housekeeping and cooking, doing a considerably better job of it, and was also in the Nag's Head with frequency, drinking rum and playing the piano. Albert never stopped talking about his war days to anyone in earshot, often issuing tedious anecdotes which allowed Del or Rodney to mock him. All said, Albert's death - 15 years after moving in with his great-nephews - was mourned on as grand a scale as Grandad's. This was written into the next episode made after the death of actor Buster Merryfield in 1999.

Related Topics:
Royal Navy - Merchant

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• Raquel — Tessa Peake-Jones

A trained actress and singer whose career never took off, Rachel "Raquel" Turner married and then separated from policeman Roy Slater before joining up with a dating agency, where she was introduced to Del. They hit it off but split after a row over Raquel's part-time job as a stripper. They re-met accidentally in Margate, where Del was stranded after missing his transport back from a day trip, and Raquel was working in a club as one half of a conjurer's act. This time they got back together and Raquel moved in, taking much of the housekeeping duty off Albert while also trying occasionally to relaunch her theatrical career. She and Del survived a crisis after Del found out the identity of her ex-husband - Slater was his old nemesis - and had an unplanned but very welcome son, Damien, although they never got round to marrying. Raquel was responsible for re-furnishing and re-decorating the flat to the extent that it looked like a family home for the first time.

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• Cassandra — Gwyneth Strong

An intelligent, slightly spoilt daughter of a wealthy, self-made businessman, Cassandra was a bank worker who was taking evening classes when she met Rodney, with whom she started a relationship after they danced together at a nightclub. Their love blossomed to the extent that even Del approved, and the two soon married. Cassandra's ambitious nature and Rodney's own difficulty in untying the apron strings of his family meant the marriage initially struggled to work, with the two separating after a year, although ultimately they reconciled their differences and grew stronger, especially after Cassandra miscarried their first child.

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• Trigger — Roger Lloyd Pack

The chief supporting character throughout the show's run, Trigger was a local road sweeper, small time thief and rogue and village idiot who had no enemies and was highly valued by Del as a friend. Trigger - apparently so called because he looks like a horse - was the son of a local woman and an unknown military father, but had numerous extended family members. He went to school with Del and has always swept the roads of Peckham by day before propping up the Nag's Head bar at night. Early in the run we saw Trigger also as a mild crook and trader but eventually he stopped getting involved in buying and selling and just became a valued hanger-on. Despite being extremely dim, Trigger's generosity and good nature is respected by all in the area. He has consistently called Rodney "Dave" under the genuine belief that is his name, even though he hears everyone else using the correct name time and again.

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• Boycie — John Challis

Aubrey Boyce went to school with Del and Trigger and emerged as the most financially successful but least popular of the trio. A frightful snob with a machine gun laugh and membership of the local masonic lodge, Boycie was a ruthless businessman - mainly in used cars and movie retailing - who still socialised with his Peckham compatriots partially out of a sense of duty, although under it all he remains fond of Del and Trigger. He married Marlene in the mid 1960s but it took more than 20 years for them to conceive a child after Boycie was discovered to have a low sperm count. Their son Tyler was subsequently born and recently the family moved to the countryside for spin-off sitcom "Green, Green Grass".

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• Marlene — Sue Holderness

Mrs Boyce had a prior reputation as a well loved 'entertainer' of men, including Del and Trigger, before she married Boycie in the 1960s. However, there was a consistent undercurrent of an affair between Del and Marlene throughout the programme. Marlene did not work but instead kept the Boyce home in the Kings Avenue, for a long time having her beloved Great Dane, Duke, as her only company until a long fertilisation course produced Tyler.

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• Denzil — Paul Barber

An unemployed put-upon husband when first seen, Denzil was another schoolfriend of Del's although he arrived in the area from Liverpool well into his teens. A trusted and liked friend of all, Denzil was nevertheless a regular on the receiving end of Del's scams. He was married to Corinne who was only sighted once before leaving him. He ultimately forged a reasonable living as a courier and long distance driver.

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• Mickey Pearce — Patrick Murray

A young, confident but largely unimaginative spiv figure - complete with hat - and friend of Rodney's, often on the receiving end of Del's jibes whenever he issues one of his regular boasts or exaggerations. In the early days he often targeted the same girls and high-reaching ambitions as Rodney, later just becoming a cash-in-hand delivery man for Boycie, amongst other things.

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• Mike — Kenneth MacDonald

The landlord of the Nag's Head (although not from the very beginning; his predecessor was never seen, with just a succession of barmaids providing service), Mike Fisher became a respected landlord and friend of the regulars, often targeted by Del as a potential customer for any dubious gear he was selling. Mike's private affairs rarely were discussed, although he was divorced before taking over the pub. The death of actor Kenneth MacDonald in 2001 prompted a plotline of Mike's imprisonment for fraud in subsequent episodes, with the local cafe owner Sid taking over as licensee of the pub.

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• Damien — Ben Smith

Damien Derek Trotter, Del and Raquel's son, grew up into a typically moody and brash teenager and was a constant threat to Rodney, who viewed him as a 'devil child', even suggesting the name of Damien as a joke over the Omen films, only for Del and Raquel to take his suggestion seriously.

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