Del Boy
| Derek (Del Boy) Trotter | |||||||||||||||||||
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From left to right:
Edward "Grandad" Trotter (Lennard Pearce), Derek "Del Boy" Trotter (David Jason) and Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) |
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Only Fools and Horses Rock & Chips character |
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| Portrayed by | David Jason (1981–2003, 2014) James Buckley (2010–11) |
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| Duration | (1981–2003, 2014)(OFAH) 2010–2011 (Rock & Chips) |
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| First appearance | "Big Brother" | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | "Beckham in Peckham" | ||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | John Sullivan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances |
Rock & Chips (2010–11) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Market trader (1960–2001) Entrepreneur (2001—) |
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| Home | Peckham | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Father | Reg Trotter |
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| Mother | Joan Trotter |
| Half-brothers | Rodney Trotter |
| Wife | Raquel Turner (1999) (partner) |
| Grandfathers | Ted Trotter |
| Grandmothers | Violet Trotter |
| Uncles |
Albert Trotter (great) George Trotter (great) Jack Trotter (great) |
| First cousins | Audrey Trotter Stanley Trotter Gillian |
| Other relatives | Jean Trotter (first cousin-in-law once removed) |
Derek Edward "Del Boy" Trotter (born 12 July 1945) is the fictional lead character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses and one of the main characters of its prequel, Rock & Chips. He was played by David Jason in the original series and was portrayed as a teenager by James Buckley in the prequel. Del is known for his broken French quotes which are usually completely out of context and a variety of catchphrases, including: "He who dares – wins!", "This time next year we'll be millionaires", "Lovely Jubbly!", "You know it makes sense" (which he usually says to his customers after they've agreed on a deal) and "You plonker!" (which he usually says to Rodney).
Del Boy is a happy-go-lucky cheeky character. While not always successful, his general optimism and confidence often persuade people to believe in him. From the sixth series on, he adopts some of the mannerisms of a stereotypical yuppie of the late 1980s, pretending to be much more wealthy than he really is, as he tries to associate with the upper classes despite being obviously working class.
Del Boy is a habitual liar, particularly to women, customers, policemen and even his family and doctors. He sometimes lies when it is against his best interests, such as when he claims to be a health freak while suffering from stomach pains, leading to his spending several days under observation in hospital rather than receiving an immediate diagnosis.
It is revealed in Sickness and Wealth that he is frightened of doctors, which causes him to resist Albert and Rodney's advice for him to see a doctor, until a medium tricks him into believing his departed mother wants him to visit the doctor about his stomach. In Fatal Extraction, it is revealed that Del is also frightened of dentists, avoiding visiting them whenever possible (his previous dentist died on the night of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977) and only reluctantly visiting due to bad toothache.
Del presents himself as being able to speak some French, though few of his phrases make any sense in the context he uses them in (e.g. saying "au revoir" to mean "hello" and "bonjour" as goodbye). He also thinks he has knowledge in subjects like geography (believing to be in Norway), history, art and other academic subjects (his lack of knowledge in history is shown well in "To Hull and Back" in which he calls Albert "the finest little sailor this country has produced since Nelson lost the Armada".) He believes the term "yuppie" to be a compliment, and unintentionally causes considerable offence when he calls a person a yuppie to their face.
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