Derek "Del Boy" Trotter

Derek Edward "Del Boy" Trotter was the main

Ofah delly welly 1989 — Del Boy in 1989 during his yuppy phase.

character in Only Fools And Horses. He was the older half brother of Rodney Trotter and was the head of the Trotter family. He was a brash, sometimes loud South London market trader. Del always aspired to be a millionaire and even was offered a chance once by his successful friend Jumbo Mills, whom Del had helped out when Jumbo emigrated, but was too loyal to his brother Rodney who was refused an immigration visa due to a conviction. Del was a petty con man who sold fake or stolen gear to local people, as well as to his mates. Del finally became a millionaire in 1996 but in true plonker style lost it in 2001 and the Trotters ended up as market traders again. Del Boy was played by renowned actor David Jason.

Del became an author in 2015 when he published his autobiography He Who Dares.

Backstory

1945-1980

Ofah del rock and chips — Del Boy as seen in Rock And Chips, set in 1960.

Derek Edward Trotter was born on the 12th July 1945 in Orchard Street, Peckham, South London to Reg Trotter and his wife Joan Mavis Trotter. He was named after his two grandfathers Derek and Edward. He grew up in a terraced house in Peckham with his parents and ageing grandfather Grandad Trotter - (Edward Trotter), who was separated from his wife Violet Trotter. Aged 11 Del got a paper round which included a "Spick And Span" for the weirdo in Marley Road. Del also used to sell stolen gear down the local markets, often bunking off school.

In early 1960, an almost 15 year old Del was frequenting the local pub, The Nags Head. As the pub was slack in regards to drinking age laws, Del used to have the odd drink. Even his mum Joan would give him a rum and pep on occasions or whiskey if she was flush, but then call over to Del, telling him to get off home to bed for school in the morning. Del even was known to drink alcohol aged only 11 as he was hungover on the morning of his Eleven Plus exam. In 1960, Del and his friends Jumbo Mills, Denzil Tulser, Trigger and Boycie left school and Del became a market trader. In November 1960, Joan Trotter gave birth to a son Rodney Trotter, a younger brother for 15 year old Del. Del used to sell knocked off Tom Jones LP's. In December 1960, Del got engaged but this never worked out. Del was not yet 16. Del, Denzil, Jumbo, Albie, Trigger and Boycie all eventually excluded Roy Slater from their gang as Slater was a young police cadet in the early 1960's, and Del and his mates were mischievous and did not trust police officers.

In July 1961, Del crossed paths with an old flame of his, Barbara Bird, and they went for a coffee together, where they agree to continue seeing each other but only after Barbara returns from an upcoming trip. Seven months later, February 1962, Del met Barbara's parents, Bernard and Beryl, before taking Barbara out to dinner at The Golden Egg in Leicester Square, and getting engaged in the process. Soon, the Birds invited the Trotters over over for an engagement party, in which Del sympathised with Bernard for not liking Reg. But shortly after, Del was surprised and frightened when Beryl made a sexual pass at him, which resulted in Del and Barbara's engagement ending in disaster.

In June 1962, Del was forced to return to school to do his O-level school exams, but rather skipped them to flog Tom Jones LP's at the market. He got 8 A's when he left school, this was also his official school leaving date. Del phoned up pubs in Oxford and Cambridge to make enquiries into their universities - and what the pubs were like in the two cities. One afternoon, Del came home from the market to find his entire family celebrating the eight straight A's he had received. But then, they remembered a letter they got from the school earlier to say that the A's all stood for Absent. When they found out, Joan was disappointed since she had big dreams for Del, who tried to explain to her that dreams do not require certificates. At the same time, an unsurprised Reg called Del a waste of space. But, Del would not stand for that, so he told Reg that if he had been more a man and looked after the family, Del wouldn't have had to go out and try and earn some money. After those words, Reg punched Del, who returned the favour by proceeding to beat up Reg in front of Joan, Grandad, Violet, and Rodney. Looking back, Del admits in his 2015 autobiography He Who Dares that it felt brilliant to beat Reg within an inch of his life for every single one of Joan's tears and every black eye she'd try to hide behind her sunglasses. While Reg spent a couple of days in hospital, Del spent a couple of days in Brighton to clear his head, but he eventually came home and apologised to both his parents, but now knew that Reg vowed never to hit Del, Rodney, or Joan ever again.

When Freddie "The Frog" Robdal died to September 1963 in an explosion during a robbery of a post office in Plumstead, Del was very concerned for his mother Joan, who began drinking heavily.

In early January 1964, Joan wouldn't get out of bed one morning due to her health being heavily damaged by her drinking habit, so Del called Dr. Becker, who came round to examine Joan before calling for an ambulance. As they waited, Dr. Becker told Del that his mother had an alcohol-related illness, which hit Del really hard, like a chair had been smashed over his head. Del then went to the hospital with Joan and even spent the night sleeping in the reception area. The next morning, Del called Grandad, and he and Rodney both turned up within the hour at the hospital to go with Del to see Joan, but Reg never showed up.

Even though Joan recovered briefly, the rest of the Trotters all knew that she didn't have that long to live. So, Del vowed never to leave his mother's side, even when she has to go into St. Mary's Hospice, Peckham, London. Del and Joan talked about everything, and Del bought his mother presents and surrounded her bed with daffodils, anything to see that smile from Joan one last time.

In 12th March 1964, Joan Mavis Trotter died after a long illness, and Del held her hand until the end. A few days after Joan's death, Del went for a walk just to be by himself, while Reg cried over the fact that the "little" woman he hated had been the backbone of the Trotter Family. Rodney would follow Del out of the precinct and to a park wall where they sat for an hour. Rodney asked Del where their mother was, and Del said that she'd gone to Cornwall. Del would buy Rodney an ice-cream with a flake with his last 6p, making Del realise that he wasn't completely useless after all, even if he was flat broke.

Lazy, sleazy Reg Trotter then walked out on his family a few months later on the 12th of July 1964. He even took Del's birthday cake. Del was too numb inside to get angry at Reg, but pleased to know he was gone for good.

As Grandad was an out of work lamplighter waiting for gas to make a comeback, Del had to bring his much younger brother Rodney up. He clothed him, fed, him, picked him up when he fell down, and wiped his... tears away.

That same year, Del met June Snell. Del, June, Albie Littlewood and Albie's girlfriend Deirdre used to hang around together. In September 1965, Albie's body was found on the railway line as he took a shortcut across the railway line. Del always thought Albie was going to meet him in the pub. Actually he was on his way to meet Del's girl June. June swiftly left Del after Albie's funeral. She was pregnant at the time. This all came back to haunt Del 19 years later, as Del was also seeing Deirdre.

In about 1965, Del and Jumbo Mills set up a fish stall outside The Nags Head called Eels On Wheels. They had dreams that every pub in London was going to have a stall outside called Eels On Wheels. But the health inspectors closed the stall down, and parents used to worry that their fish was related to Flipper and Squiddly Diddly. So after their business was shut down for good in 1967, Jumbo decided to emigrate to Australia. Del gave him £200 to help him. This helped Jumbo become as rich as hell years later and he wanted to share his riches with Del.

In 1968 or early 1969, Del dated Pauline Harris. She was always seeing other men and Del had more fights than John Wayne. Del also believed in god and gave money towards funds for a new roof for the church. Seeing as he nicked the old roof, he saw the donations as penance. Del and Pauline later split up.

One time Del was allegedly stabbed outside a dance hall. A 3 inch gash in his shoulder but he never went to hospital. He treated it himself, with TCP and a flannel. He did not report to to the police as he was engaged to her at the time. Anyway Del would never die, he was not the type.

1981-2003

In 1981, Del was 36 and still a bachelor but young enough to have ambitions. He mocked Rodney's girlfriend Monica for having fat thighs. He was conned out of £2000 that year by Mr Rham and Vimmal Malik. That year he got in touch with Pauline Harris again, but the Trotters fled to Clacton in Essex when Del realised she was trying to kill him after persuading him to take out a life insurance policy. Pauline later fled the area but left a huge telephone bill. Del tried to set up Trotters Ethnic Tours but Grandad threw all the leaflets away. Del and Rodney even tried to practice for a war so nicked some lead and bits and built a nuclear fall out shelter, on the roof of Nelson Mandela House.

In 1982, Del was annoyed that Rodney started dating a policewoman called Sandra. They later broke off the date after Sandra gave them 24 hours to clear out any hookie gear they had. That year the Trotters went abroad to Spain but Grandad was arrested, what he thought was for gun running in 1936 but for jay walking. In November 1982, Del began to date Heather but she was still in love with her husband who wanted a second chance. Del called off the relationship.

In 1983, Del was conned by Miranda Davenport and almost got into trouble while on holiday with Rodney and Grandad, when the max axe fisherman killer struck. Later that year, Del's old school enemy Roy Slater was back in Peckham. Slater was a Detective Inspector and wanted to find out about a stolen microwave. Rodney, not knowing who Slater was, said Del was coming to the pub but got involved in some business with a microwave. Slater visited Del and tricked them and then arrested Del, Rodney, and Grandad. Slater said if Del did not give the name of the microwave thief he would stitch Rodney up for drugs, seeing as he had a cannabis conviction. Del said he would be one of his informers if he gave the name. Slater said if Del ever stepped out of line he would tell the villains Del is an informer and have him killed. Also if Del and Rodney went to jail, he would have Grandad assaulted. Del applied for immunity from prosecution and said he nicked the microwave. Slater then left the area for a while.

In December 1983, after 18 years, Del and Rodney's dad Reg Trotter turned up again. He claimed he was dying. Del and Rodney found out the truth and sent him packing. Although Del gave him some money to help him on his way.

In 1984, Del wanted to go into the oil industry so he bought an oil rig for £400 or so he thought. Turned out he had been conned, as oil rigs cost more like £400 million, not £400.

By 1985, Del was reunited with old flame June Snell. He had last seen her in September 1965 and she was pregnant. Del thought he was the father of Debbie Snell but June later said it was his old friend Albie Littlewood. At the same time, Grandad was in hospital. He soon died and in February 1985 the Trotters united in grief. At the funeral, an old sailor with a beard introduced himself as Albert Trotter, younger brother of Grandad. He later moved in after his nephew Stan Trotter and his wife Jean Trotter abandoned him. As the Trotters were so hard up, Albert fell down a cellar to claim compensation but the courts revealed he had several previous claims. He wanted to get Grandad's headstone. A few more of Del's schemes went belly up such as the Louvre doors.

In late 1985, 40 year old Del Boy was offered a big deal by Boycie and Abdul Khan. They offered him £15'000 to go to Amsterdam in Holland and bring the diamonds back. Del was reluctant but later agreed. However Roy Slater was back policing the area and a Chief Inspector. He knew there were some diamond smuggling rackets and the people behind it were Boycie and Abdul. Slater did not know who the courier was. He did not suspect Del at first. Slater had all the airports covered so Del decided to go by boat, a schooner. Albert was the captain. They reached Holland, Del did business with Hendrik Van Kleefe. On his return they were surrounded by coppers and it was revealed Slater was behind the schemes as he wanted to retire early in style. He took the diamonds rather than have Del, Rodney, Albert, Boycie and Abdul banged up for 5 years. PC Terence Hoskins set Slater up as the police suspected him. Slater was arrested. Del was paid by Boycie but thought the money was fake and threw it out of the window.

A year later in the summer of 1986, Del took German student Anna under his wing. She was pregnant and as Boycie and Marlene wanted to adopt, Del saw £££ signs. The scheme went belly up as usual. Del then faked a Miracle to help save St Mary's Hospice. One night the Trotters were held hostage by Lennox Gilbey but it was a scam between Lennox and the staff to get the money as the manager was hard up. Lennox was offered a security job there after Del said that he should get a job or he will go to the police, plus the money for the 1000'000th customer winning. That year he saw Lisa, Triggers niece. Del and Rodney fell out over it and Del went hang gliding. After briefly dabbling in the video industry, in October 1986, Del's old friend Jumbo Mills returned after 19 years in Australia. He offered Del a partnership as Del had given him £200 to emigrate in 1967 and Jumbo was now a millionaire. Del agreed but realised he could not leave Rodney as due to his drugs conviction he was refused an emigration visa.

In late 1986, Del mucked up Rodney's date with "posh tart" Victoria, daughter of Sir Henry Marsham, Duke of Maylebury. Del embarrassed Rodney at the dinner at the country mansion but this was a ploy to protect Rodney as they would find out about his cannabis conviction and if he refused to leave Vicky they would send out a hit team. Del's plan may have been to screw money out of the Duke.

In late 1987, the Trotters were trying to flog computers. Del got Rodney a job as a chief mourner to Mr Jahan. At Triggers niece Lisa's wedding, Del met old friend Reenie Turpin, Del's mums best friend. She mentioned Freddie "The Frog" Robdal, who befriended Joan in about 1960 when her and Reg were going through a rough patch. Reenie said when Robdal died in a safe cracking incident he had left the gold to Joan. Reenie said that Rodney had a resemblance to Freddie Robdal. The gold was later revealed to be buried at sea. It seems the legacy finding was later abandoned.

A few weeks later that same year, Del signed up to a dating agency. He had made a lot of money recently. Rodney had a date with Nerys Sansom. Del paraded as Derek Duval and at the dating agency, was recommended to a woman called Raquel Turner. They met at Waterloo Station. Del pretended he was a millionaire. Raquel was a small time actress and also a stripper. Del was annoyed at her for not telling him she was a stripper. Rodney was chased by yobs when driving Nerys around and Del later agreed to meet up with Raquel again or she would go on a tour in the Middle East. Del mistook 2 coppers for strippers, thinking Albert had organised it as a revenge ploy for Del organising strippers at his birthday party. Del was arrested after ripping the female coppers blouse open. He was on his way to visit Raquel and she left for the Middle East and Del lost contact with her.

Soon after, in early 1988, Del saw a film called Wall Street which had a character called Gordon Gekko in it. Del started using a yuppy image, red braces, trendy trench coat and smart shirts and ties plus an aluminium briefcase. Meanwhile Rodney started going to evening school to try and break away from being Del's dogsbody down the markets for Trotters Independent Traders. Del started attending wine bars and one time went to lean on the bar flap but did not know it had been lifted up by the barman so he fell arse over head. Trigger was with him. Rodney met a woman at evening school called Cassandra Parry.

Del managed to blag 50 dolls off his mate Denzil but did not know they were inflatable until he opened up the packaging. They ere filled with explosive gas and Del and Rodney dumped them on wasteground. Del then met a retired jeweller called Arnie. Del did some business with him and put together a multi national consortium, well Boycie, Mike from The Nags Head, Trigger and Albert. They planned to double their money by buying the gold chains for £12'500. Arnie had a heart attack and was rushed to hospital. As the ambulance hurried off, no one knew what hospital they took him to and as Arnie's surname was not known, the money vanished. It later turned out Arnie had faked several heart attacks to get some quick dosh.

A week or so later Del started applying for every competition possible, Spot The Dog, Corn Flakes. 12 years before Rodney had wrote his name on a painting of The Marble Arch At Dawn and when Del saw it he entered Rodney for the competition. They then won a trip to Majorca, but Rodney had to pretend to be 14 and Cassandra had to pose as his common law stepmother. Del enjoyed winding Rodney up and when they thought they had won £1000'000 they were told no money could be given as Rodney's name was on the ticket and he was under 18. As Del had doctored all his documents, they could not prove his real age.

Upon their return from Majorca, Del carried on his yuppy image but started getting stomach pains. He blamed it on Yuppie Flu but was secretly worried. Also he had not paid the rent for 3 months and was being threatened with eviction. He tried to earn money by arranging seances with medium Elsie Partridge. Del refused to go to the doctor until Albert told Elsie to pretend she got a message from his late mum saying he had to go to the doctors. Del went to the doctors but said he was a vegetarian health freak, and had 1 cigar a year. The doctor admitted him to hospital and Del was very worried, he thought he had AIDS due to his promiscuous past. Dr. Robbie Meadows heard Del's name by accident and as he was the family doctor, he read Del's reports which said he lead a healthy lifestyle when in reality he was a wheeling dealing Pina Colada lout, curry king, cigar smoker and woman magnet. Del was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He was mightily relieved and cried tears of joy, as he knew deep down that there was nothing seriously wrong with him, just a severe case of Yuppie Flu after all. Del had to take a more sensible diet. Rodney then announced his engagement to Cassandra.

In August 1988, Rodney failed his diploma but Del bribed the teacher to pass him. Rodney then got a job at Cassandra's father Alan Parry's printing firm as a computer programmer, no more being Del's dogsbody down the market. Del knew Boycie owed him money but then got involved with The Driscoll Brothers, who thought Del was trying to con them over some phones. He tricked Boycie into thinking it was the VCR's Boycie sold him so Boycie gave him £3000. Del took a beating rather than let Rodney down over the promised £2000 flat deposit. Del witnessed Rodney walk up the aisle. Rodney had flown the nest, he now had a good job, nice flat, new wife, and Del was proud of him, though sad to see him go.

One year later, in August 1989, Del organised the annual Jolly Boys Outing. Rodney was now the Head Of The Computer Section at

Alan's printing firm and was doing really well. Del was still flogging hooky gear down the markets with Albert having taken Rodney's job. However, Cassandra was friendly with her boss from the bank, Steven The Yuppie. Rodney hated Steven who was always flirting with Cassandra.

On the beano to Margate, the coach blew up when no one was in it after Del sold the driver a dodgy car radio. There was a rail strike and the last bus back to London had gone by the time the gang arrived at the bus stop at 7:40pm. They had to spend the night in Margate. Rodney was worried that Cassandra would get lonely and invite Steven round. While at a nightclub Del, by chance saw Raquel on stage and he was back in touch. She had got back to England 6 months before. On the return to London the following morning, Rodney returned home and saw Steven in his flat and punched him, until he saw his wife Joanne was there making coffee. Rodney was thrown out and moved back in with Del. Raquel soon moved in with Del.

1990-1991 - Relationship with Raquel and impending fatherhood, plus an old enemy returns, and who his estranged wife is, shows it really is a small world.

In February 1990, 6 months since the beano to Margate, Rodney was back with Cassandra but there

Ofah del 1990 — Del Boy trotter in 1990.

was still friction. She thought Rodney was being a bit of a chauvinist, wanting his dinner on the table when he gets home from work. They had another row and Rodney yet again went back to Del's flat. He started drinking with his mates, and Mickey Pearce suggested Rodney ask a girl out to make Cassandra jealous. Rodney took Del's van to the local exhaust centre and asked Tanya The Kwik Fit Receptionist out on a date. Del informed Cass but Rodney said he decided to not go through with the date. Del tried to tell Cassandra but it was too late and she threw Rodney out. Rodney was mad at Del but later agreed they both mucked this up and Del took him back to the flat. Cass took a break to Spain. Del organised a honeymoon suite for Rodney and Cass upon her return to Gatwick but due to Cassandra's plane being diverted to Manchester Albert did not tell Cass that Rodney was staying in some hotel. This meant she would think Rodney was going caso with some tart. Rodney

Ofah del spits tea — Del finds out his girlfriend Raquel was once married to a copper.

tried to ring Alan. In the end, Cass somehow found out the truth. She still stayed with her parents. Rodney and Cass went for a meal and they got back but that night he was escorting one of Del's exes to the taxi and Cass drove past and saw him. She dumped him. Rodney, for the umpteenth time, went back to live with Del. He was worried that Alan would sack him over the marriage problems. Rodney tried to hand in his resignation so Alan would refuse it, knowing Rodney was too important to the firm but Alan accepted it. Rodney the plonker lost the highly paid job he had for the past year and a half, as a computer programmer. Del was angry at him and said how managed to gain a good job, wife and flat and now he has thrown it all away. Del then found out he was going to be a dad again. Del managed to earn extra money by pairing Raquel up with Tony Angelino, who could not pronounce his R's. Del temporarily employed an out of work Rodney as his sweeper upper.

In January 1991, Del was invited to a school reunion, of which no one knew who had arranged it. Turned out it was Del's old school enemy Roy Slater. Roy tried to convince others he had changed and in the end Del forgave him until he found out Slater was Raquel's much referred to but never identified husband. Raquel confirmed this and said that Slater was her married name. Prior to this, she had never told Del her married name as Del kept saying "Let's change the subject" when she discussed her marriage. Slater said he had an inheritance coming through and also hinted that Del's business clients would never trust him again if they knew he was seeing the ex wife of an ex copper, hinting that he would tell people. Del tried to keep Slater sweet and he knew the divorce proceedings were being filed and when Slaters wallet was left lying about, Del stumbled across a post nuptial agreement Slater wanted Raquel to sign, and that his inheritance was 10 stolen diamonds pugged away in a Bond Street merchants. This meant Raquel had to sign the form or Slater would blab to everyone he is her ex husband, thus tarnishing Trotters Independent Traders. Del and Rodney had one up on Slater and said they got a photocopy of the letters. Del said Slater could keep his money but was to divorce Raquel, leave her alone forever, leave Peckham forever and never return and to keep his mouth shut that he was married to Raquel or they would go to the police and this time Slater could get a 10 year prison term. Slater agreed to the deal and left Peckham that day, forever.

Shortly after, Del bought a Capri Ghia so Raquel would be safe when going shopping, rather than walk and risk being mugged. At the same time, a depressed and out of work Rodney wanted Del to take him back on as his dogsbody down the markets again. Del agreed and said he wanted Rodney to clean his new car. Albert was then "mugged" one night and Del vowed revenge until it turned out Albert had a fight with an old school enemy over Marlene's mum Dora Lane.

In February 1991, Del became a dad to Damien Trotter and Rodney finally got back with Cassandra, but was still Del's dogsbody. Old habits die hard. Rodney was to receive a payout from Alan's firm.

In August 1991, Del and Raquel had baby Damien christened. Del conned his way to a holiday to Miami after a wine deal went belly up, he wanted to get away for a week. He used Rodney's golden handshake proceeds to book the holiday and booked a week that Cass could not make it. Del was very excited about the holiday, and hoped to hit the big time while on holiday. While in Miami, Del was "befriended" by some Mafia people who posed as businessmen, they saw Del was a double for the Mafia Boss Don Vincenzo Occhetti who was up on trial for 3 murders and drug offences and risked a life sentence in jail. Del survived 2 attempts on his life, the first was a bullet almost hit him, and the 2nd was he survived a ride on an iffy jet ski. Del and Rodney later foiled their plan when Del found out that Rico and his cronies were not businessmen, but the Mafia. Del and Rodney escaped, with the Mafia hot on their trail, but Del and Rodney managed to escape the Mafia on a speedboat. They quickly headed for the airport so they could wait there for their flight back to England. The following night, they flew back to England, safe and sound. But when Del and Rodney got home, Del's flat was full of boxes of Romanian Riesling.

1992-1993: Relationship worries, money worries, a spring venture, and a bad tooth.

1992 was a tough year for the Trotters. By the summer of 1992, they were not buying or selling anything and by November, they were in dire straits. They had not bought or sold anything for months. Del owed the casino lots of money and found he was now the owner of the flat after all his paperwork came through, 4 years after his application to buy the flat. Only Albert's pension helped keep the Trotter family afloat. Del was also told to clear out Grandad's old allotment or face jail. Del came up with a scheme to "discover" a urban spring and sell the water. Myles was a local businessman who was conned into thinking the water was real. Del began to sell tap water. In the end the scheme was abandoned but the Trotters had made a lot of money.

In late 1993, Del was going down the pubs every night and the casinos. Raquel and him had relationship troubles and Del had a sore tooth. Raquel left him after Del came in at 8am one morning. Turns out Del was doing these nightclub jaunts as a phase because he was putting a deal together over some VCRs and did not want word slipping out as he had competitors. While at a dentist, when he was temporarily split from Raquel, Del asked Beverley out on a date. Rodney was horrified and Del agreed to break off the date, leaving a message on her answer phone. He then thought Bev was stalking him because he made a date with her then gave her the elbow. Del and Raquel later reconciled after he agreed to change. By chance, Bev met Raquel and swapped Damien's highchair for Bev's answer phone. Bev had left the message from Del on the machine. Rodney said the swap was a good deal and plugged the machine in on Christmas Night when they were all celebrating in the Trotter's flat. The machine played the message and Raquel thought Del had been having an affair all these months. She threw stuff at Del. 12 floors down Bev could hear the commotion and smiled to herself, implying that Del was right all along, and that Bev had planned revenge for Del giving her the elbow. Del and Raquel later reconciled.

By late 1996 Del was 51 and Rodney was 36. Rodney and Cass were still trying for a baby. Del applied for a grant to have his kitchen done up. It was rejected but when Del and Rodney (while dressed as Batman and Robin for a costume event) saved the Councillor from being mugged, Del persuaded her to give him the go ahead for the council grant. Cass was pregnant and Del won a medal for tackling the muggers. Del then bought a book called Modern Man and sold Dr Singh some out of date paint. Del considered having a vasectomy so he could reproduce years later when he is rich and famous. Cass had a miscarriage which devastated Rodney, who was comforted by Del. Raquel had a dinner with her parents James Turner and Audrey Turner. Her brother in Milton Keynes did not attend. As James was an antiques dealer he spotted a watch in Del's garage. He assumed it to be the 300 year old lost Harrison timekeeper. This was later confirmed and as the Trotters had the receipt to prove ownership, they won a £6.2 million fortune.

After 30 odd years of getting up at 4am to flog hooky gear down markets and working until 7 at night, Del could finally relax. He bought a mansion while Rodney and Cass bought a riverside apartment. Del then realised the millionaire lifestyle was not all it was cracked up to be as he had won his millions rather than earned it. Rodney talked him round. Del had to learn to play golf. Del said they could still invest and could be billionaires.

1996-2001 - The millionaire lifestyle, and losing it all

The Trotters enjoyed the flash lifestyle, holidaying in Monte Carlo, and living in a posh house in the countryside. Back in Peckham in inner city London, Boycie had to take Prozac due to his jealousy of his friend becoming a millionaire. The Nags Head was a much quieter place without the Trotters are regular customers. In 2001, they invested in a dodgy South American stock market which crashed. The Trotters were bankrupt and lost the millions they had made on top of the ones they had won in 1996. Del's so called friends in Peckham (Boycie, Trigger, Sid, Denzil etc) all rubbed their hands in glee when they read the newspaper to say that the Trotters were broke again and had lost every penny of their fortune.

2001-2003 - Back to working as market traders again

Del had never sold his flat in Peckham and they had to move back, also, Del owed £50'000 to the Inland Revenue due to some bouncy cheques. Del was back to where he was before, he had to come out of early retirement and go back to getting up at 4 or 5am to flog hookie gear down markets all day until 6pm. Rodney and Cassandra stayed with Del at his flat and the whole family just argued and argued due to their misfortune. Del planned to go on a gameshow to win the family £50'000.

Albert died suddenly while staying with Elsie Partridge. Some of Del's schemes included a few dodgy booze runs to France. They found out Albert had put it about all over the place with the ladies during the war and that they were distantly related to Rashid Mammon, a Middle Eastern millionaire as his gran met an English sailor in the war and Rashid had a resemblance to Albert. Turned out Rashid's son was the stowaway the Trotters thought was an illegal immigrant.

Cassandra was pregnant again and Rodney was very worried something would go wrong. Del and Rodney tried to make a movie. Sid was still running the Nag's Head in Mike's absence while in jail for fraud. They got chatting about the old beanos to Margate and after the last one in 1989, the coach company refused to do business with them any more. Sid lent Rodney a photo from the first Jolly Boys' Outing in 1960. Rodney had it enlarged but saw a photo of Freddie Robdal in the picture, and that Rodney looked the spitting image of him. Rodney said he had suspected for years. Del later saw the pic and knew Rodney was having it enlarged and worried he would see Freddie's face. Del said he also had suspicions as when he was 20, his 6 year old kid brother was taller, and many people knew Freddie was friendly with their mother at the time Rodney was conceived. Albert had left Del and Rodney £150,000 in his will, which put them out of debt, and Rodney became a father to baby Joan Trotter Jnr.

2014-

In March 2014, Del Boy was still trading at almost 69 years old. One of his latest lines have been pants that have been signed by David Beckham. Del and Rodney are personal friends of David.

In 2015, Del published his autobiography He Who Dares. Del also mentioned that he would turn 70 this year.

Memorable info

Born: 12th July 1945
Full Name: Derek Edward Trotter
Parents: Reg Trotter and Joan Mavis Trotter
Siblings: Rodney Trotter (half, same mother)
Grandfathers: Edward Trotter, Derek Hollins
Grandmothers: Violet Trotter, Mavis Hollins
Spouse: Raquel Turner (common law)
Children: Damien Trotter (1991)
Great Uncles: Albert Trotter, George Trotter, Jack Trotter
First cousins: Stan Trotter, Audrey Trotter
Occupation: Market Trader (1960-1996), Millionaire Businessman (1996-2001), Market Trader (2001-present)

First Line: "You two at it again are you?" to Rodney and Grandad in "Big Brother".

Final Line: "What a plonker" about David Beckham in the "Sport Relief Sketch 2014"

Observations

Personality

Del Boy was a very streetwise South Londoner. He always meant well but was always interfering in Rodney's love life, and Rodney was always threatening to clump Del for it. Del was a petty criminal and never was afraid to bend the law, buying and selling stolen gear, and if not stolen then fake gear such as fake Rolex Watches. When Del and Rodney's mum died in 1964, and their dad walked out on them, Del had to bring his much younger brother up. He fed and clothed him and was like a father figure to him, seeing as their Grandad was an out of work lamplighter waiting for gas to make a comeback. Del did take advantage of his friends especially Denzil Tulser and Trigger. In 1982 and 1989, Del got into scrapes and was once mistaken for Rodney even though Tommy MacKay never met Rodney, Rodney had been dating Irene MacKay, Tommy's husband. Del said he spoke to Irene to persuade her to leave Rodney alone, seeing as she was a lot older and was married to a convict. Tommy thought Del was Rodney and Del agreed to take a beating on Rodney's behalf. Del would go to the very end for Rodney.
Despite being a dodgy street trader, and being streetwise, Del was not very bright. In 1992, he read a article in a Sunday newspaper which said diving was all the go with yuppies but they meant scuba diving and Del had bought a deep sea divers suit. He also thought an acronym was a swan and an anagram was a dead body in a coffin. Rodney had to explain to Del what an anagram was, a word with the letters mixed up which spells another word, and what an acronym was, a word made out of the initials of a sentence or set of words. Another case of Del's ignorance was he thought the banana crop growth was the size of the bananas but Steven The Yuppie meant in a financial way and the amount of bananas sold. Del also thought the Russian male ballet dancer Nijinski was a woman and that Alan Sugar is Alec Sugar and is a panellist on the BBC1 show Dragon's Den. This probably would have been due to just ignorance instead of being thick. Del certainly was not thick as he was quite sly and crafty at times. Del was probably capable of having a good knowledge of things but at school he was not bothered by education, and more into dodgy deals.
While Del did gain a yuppy image with the filofax, aluminium briefcases and the red braces, he could never really compete with a proper yuppie. Yuppies tended to be high flyers such as bankers, stockbrokers and businessmen rather than market traders, an example of a true yuppie was Rodney's wife's boss Steven The Yuppie. Steven tried to deny he was a yuppie but Del and Rodney saw him as a yuppie.
Del always dreamt of being a millionaire. Actually, (prior to becoming one in 1996), there was 3 instances where Del almost became a millionaire. In 1986, Del's old friend Jumbo Mills, now a millionaire, offered Del a partnership in his business, as he thought that Del had helped make him a millionaire due to giving Jumbo £200 when he emigrated in 1967. Del agreed to the deal but Rodney was refused an immigration visa due to his minor drugs conviction, and Albert did not want to move on again at his age. So Del kindly turned down Jumbo's offer as Rodney and Albert needed him. Rodney did say the real opportunity lies here, when the country has a recession, people come to traders like them for bargains. The second time was in 1987 when Del found out that him and Rodney were heirs to a gold fortune left to them by their late mother's "bit on the side" Freddie Robdal, a local gentleman thief and safe cracker. Turned out the loot was buried at sea. The Trotters probably abandoned the search due to the fact that they would have hundreds of square miles of sea to search, and the gold could be buried under the seabed. The third instance of Del almost becoming a millionaire was in 1989 when Del bought tickets for the Spanish lottery while on holiday, a holiday won by Del sending off a painting Rodney once did. Rodney had to pretend to be 14 all week, as Rodney had painted the Marble Arch At Dawn when he was just 14. On the holiday, Rodney and Cass said the numbers called out for the lottery match the tickets they bought and have won. Del and Rodney dance around. Alan Perkins arrives and says that they have won £1000'0000. Alan read the rules further just to confirm but he then reads that the ticket has Rodney's name on it and they cannot claim a penny of the £1million as under Spanish law, no one under 18 years old is allowed to gamble. Del and Rodney decided to come clean by saying he is over 18. But it turned out Del had even doctored Rodney's student card to make it look like he was born in 1974 as well as his passport. So the Trotters lost out a 3rd time at becoming millionaires until 7 years later in 1996 when they finally became ones due to owning a priceless antique watch they had randomly bought 16 years earlier. However in true Trotter style, they would lose their millions in 2001 in a dodgy stock market which crashed.

Confusion of age and possible theories to explain this

Del Boy Trotter's age has varied slightly throughout the years in the Only Fools And Horse series canon. In Go West Young Man - (15th September 1981) he says that he is 35 making him born in 1945 or 1946 but in he says his dad left in 1964 on his 16th birthday, making him born about 1948. In the 1991 episode The Chance of a Lunchtime (6th January 1991), but set several months earlier (maybe mid 1990 as Raquel was only just pregnant), Trigger is meant to be 44, and if he went to school with Del Boy then that makes him born about 1945 or 1946. That does tie in with "Go West Young Man". 35 in 1981 and 44 in 1990. Kushti, as Del would say.

In the first episode of the Only Fools And Horses prequel Rock And Chips it is early 1960 and Del is supposedly 15. The PE teacher, who found Del and his mates disruptive, complains that they have to stay on another year due to the school leaving age being raised to 16. This means Del Boy was born in 1945. Reg did say when him and Joan concieved Del that "there was a war on". The war ended in May 1945 so Del would have been born no later than say, January 1946. Del did say he was born in 1945 in his autobiography He Who Dares.

A theory is that Del Boy may not have been honest with Rodney about how old he was when his mum died, he was really 18 but said he was 16 to make it look like he was a very responsible man at just 16. I think Del Boy was born in July 1945 so was still 14 in Feb 1960. His exact age was never explicitly stated in the 3 episodes of "Rock And Chips" but in the second episode, set in December 1960, Del was said to be 16 in the blurb but this is just an assumption as Del had left school by then but it was hinted he went back in 1962 to do an exam so in Dec 1960 he was probably 15. Back then, teenagers tended to be wiser beyond their years and smoked in pubs.