Only Fools and Horses: Encyclopedia II - Only Fools and Horses - Situation

Only Fools and Horses - Situation

Derek "Del Boy" Trotter (played by David Jason) and his younger brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) share a flat with their elderly Grandad (Lennard Pearce) several floors up Nelson Mandela House in a high-rise estate in Peckham, South London (although the actual high-rise shown in the show was in Acton, West London). Del Boy runs Trotter's Independent Traders — he's a fast-talking Cockney market trader, a wheeler-dealer, a wide boy, always looking to try to make a quick buck, cash in hand, no questions asked.

At the start of the first series Rodney joins Del in the business. Their mother died when Rodney was young, and their father disappeared long ago. Del's been Rodney's surrogate father for most of his life.

Del will do any deal to make money: "This time next year we'll be millionaires", he says. But most of the deals are too dodgy to succeed. Their flat is often piled high with dodgy gear they can't sell, from briefcases with the unlocking code locked inside them to sun tan lotion in the middle of winter.

The brothers' friends include a nouveau riche used car dealer, Boycie, and his wife Marlene; a slow-on-the-uptake road sweeper, Trigger, who always calls Rodney "Dave"; lorry driver Denzil; Mike, the barman at their local pub the Nag's Head; and Del-wannabe Mickey Pearce.

The show's one constant is the bond between the brothers. Unafraid of mixing comedy with tragedy, over the years we see their successes and failures, their loves and their losses. Grandad dies, and they're joined by their Uncle Albert; Del and Rodney both find long term love; Del and his "significant other" Raquel have a child, Damien; Rodney and his wife Cassandra split up and get back together; Uncle Albert dies; Cassandra miscarries, but finally she and Rodney have a child too. The Trotters strike it rich but lose it all again.

It was revealed the final Christmas special that Rodney’s father was in fact Freddie Robdal, or "Freddie the frog", a man whith whom who Del Boy's mother had an affair. This was suggested in an episode years before, when Rodney hears of a tall man who was an artist (similar characteristics to Rodney himself), and a man who had a son by a woman on the estate who for some unknown reason left everything he owned to Del and Rodney’s mum. Rodney immediately begins to suspect that this man is his biological father, but doesn’t say a word to Del. At the end of the episode when Rodney and his Uncle are alone together, Rodney out of the blue asks “ do I looks like him…?” and Uncle Albert replies “a bit. They’re rumours, Rodney, rumours…”. It is finally confirmed in the final Christmas episode when Rodney finds a photo of Freddie Robdal. The two men bear a striking resemblance and at this point the viewers know who Rodneys biological father was. It turns out that Del had known this since the beginning, although neither Del nor Rodney are aware that the other one knows and swear never to tell each other, each for fear that it would break the other's heart.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Situation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki