Only Fools and Horses

Plot

Cast and characters

Main cast and characters

• Derek Edward "Del Boy" Trotter – Del is a smooth-talking South London market trader, willing to sell anything to anyone to make money. Possessing a quick wit and confidence that his younger brother mostly lacks, Del is devoted to his family, taking care of Rodney and Grandad on his own from the age of 16. Del is also known for his penchant for cultural faux pas, in particular his misuse of French phrases. Del never settled down with a woman until he met Raquel, with whom he had a son, Damien.
• Rodney Charlton Trotter – Rodney is Del's idealistic but socially awkward younger brother. Despite being more academically gifted than Del Boy, Rodney lacks Del's charisma as well as the latter's duplicitous persona, and as such is confined to being Del's dogsbody and sidekick. Orphaned at a young age, Rodney was raised by Del, and much of the friction between the two comes from Rodney's annoyance about his dependency on his brother and his sometimes immoral schemes, usually resulting in unsuccessful attempts to gain greater independence through girlfriends or through setting up his own businesses; he was only partially successful after marrying Cassandra and briefly going to work for her father. In contrast to Del, the part of Rodney was cast early, with Lyndhurst settled on quickly. Sullivan partly based Rodney on his own experiences: he, too, had a much older sibling and, like Rodney, claims to have been a dreamer and an idealist in his youth.
• Edward Kitchener "Grandad" Trotter – Sullivan was fascinated by the idea of having a big age gap between Del Boy and his younger brother Rodney; the elderly character of Grandad, and later, Uncle Albert, gave the situation the voice of an "old man who had seen it all". In casting the role of Grandad, Sullivan had in mind an actor similar to Wilfrid Brambell, who had played Albert Steptoe in Steptoe and Son, but chose not to cast Brambell himself, thinking him too closely associated with Steptoe. After seeing Pearce's audition, Sullivan chose him immediately. Unkempt and absent-minded, although sometimes displaying a high intelligence, Grandad rarely left the flat or even moved from his armchair in front of two television sets. He was often assigned the job of cooking meals, despite his notoriously poor cooking skills, which Del describes as his "role in the family circle" to ensure he still "feels needed". Pearce died in 1984 during the filming of the fourth series and Sullivan wrote a new episode, "Strained Relations", to write Grandad's death into the series.
• Albert Gladstone Trotter – Shortly after the death of Lennard Pearce, it was decided that a new older family member should be brought in, which eventually led to "Uncle Albert", Grandad's estranged younger brother. Merryfield was an inexperienced amateur actor at the time, but was selected because he appeared to fit the description of an old sailor, especially with his distinctive white "Captain Birdseye" beard. Albert first appeared at Grandad's funeral and soon moved in with Del and Rodney. His wartime experiences with the Royal Navy became one of the show's running gags, usually beginning with the words "During the war...". Merryfield died in 1999, and Albert's death was written into the next episode.
• Raquel Turner – Raquel was introduced because Sullivan wanted more female characters and for Del to start meeting more mature women. Her first appearance, in "Dates", was intended to be a one-off, but she was written in again a year later and thereafter became a permanent cast member. A trained singer and actress whose career never took off, she met Del through a dating agency, but they fell out over her part-time job as a stripper, before getting together again. This time she moved in with Del, helping to calm him, and they had a son together, named Damien. As the character developed, it was revealed that she was previously married to Del's nemesis, Roy Slater.
• Cassandra Trotter – Cassandra first met Rodney in "Yuppy Love". Their relationship blossomed, and by the end of series six, the two had married. Cassandra's career-driven lifestyle caused fights with Rodney, and their marriage problems formed one of the main storylines in the seventh series.

  Supporting cast and characters

• Trigger – A dopey and slow-witted but good friend of Del, Trigger was initially portrayed as a small-time thief, supplying Del with dubious goods. In later episodes, he came to adopt the "village idiot" role and constantly calls Rodney "Dave", much to Rodney's annoyance. Trigger, apparently so called because he looks like a horse, was the principal supporting character earlier in the show's run, although his importance lessened as the series progressed. Lloyd-Pack was cast by pure chance: Ray Butt, who hired him to portray Trigger after seeing him in a stage play, had only attended that play to observe potential Del Boy actor Billy Murray.
• Boycie – An untrustworthy used car salesman and a cultural elitist. Boycie, a freemason, was very selfish and prone to boasting about his wealth. Challis had played a similar character in an episode of Citizen Smith. Sullivan liked him, and promised to cast him in a future series, which led to Boycie. Boycie later featured in a spin-off series, The Green Green Grass, starting in 2005, in which he, his wife Marlene and their son Tyler move to a farm in the country to escape the Driscoll brothers.
• Denzil Tulser – An affable Liverpudlian lorry driver, Denzil was often the victim of Del's scams. His inability to say no to Del's business deals frequently led to arguments with his controlling wife, Corinne. Corinne eventually walked out on him, leaving Denzil depressed but with more time to go along with Del's antics.
• Sid – Sid made sparse appearances throughout the show's run, mainly as the proprietor of the dirty and unhygienic local cafe. In the episode "The Jolly Boys' Outing", it is revealed that Sid fought in the Second World War. He was captured and imprisoned but escaped, only for the boat he was using to be hit and sunk by a Greek fishing trawler being steered by Uncle Albert. After Nag's Head landlord Mike was imprisoned, Sid took over and kept that role for the remainder of the series.
• Mickey Pearce – Mickey was a young, arrogant spiv and friend of Rodney's, known for his exaggerated boasts about his success in business or with women. Despite their friendship, Mickey often took advantage of Rodney's inexperience by stealing his girlfriends or making off with all the money from their business partnership.
• Marlene Boyce – Boycie's wife. Initially just an unseen character, Marlene was popular among the men and extremely flirtatious, having had sexual relations with all of Boycie's friends. She and Del have a noticeably close friendship, dating back to when Marlene worked in a betting shop in Lewisham Grove. Despite their constant arguments and insults, she and Boycie are in love and eventually have a child, Tyler, after several years of trying although there are light-hearted rumours that Del may be the father.
• Mike Fisher – 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. Friendly and gormless, he was often targeted by Del as a potential customer for any goods he was selling. When Kenneth MacDonald died in 2001, a storyline was written involving Mike's imprisonment for attempting to embezzle funds from the brewery, and cafe owner Sid took over as the interim pub landlord.
• Damien Trotter – Damien was Del and Raquel's son. It was Rodney's mocking suggestion that he be named Damien. Uncle Albert raised concern that Damien's initials would read "DDT", as his full name is "Damien Derek Trotter", "DDT" being short for the chemical compound Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane DDT. Six actors played Damien: Patrick McManus, Grant Stevens, Robert Liddement, Jamie Smith, Douglas Hodge and Ben Smith.