Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Grandad -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions.

Edward "Grandad" Trotter
Grandad (Pictured left)
First appearance	Big Brother
Last appearance	Licensed to Drill
Portrayed by	Lennard Pearce
Information
Age	72-76
Occupation	Retired street-lamp lighter, housekeeper for Del and Rodney
Spouse(s)	Unknown
Children	Reg
Relatives	Joan (Daughter-in-law - deceased) Reggie (Son) Derek (Grandson) Rodney (Grandson} Albert (Brother) George (Brother) Damien (Great-Grandson) Joan (Great- Granddaughter)

Edward Kitchener Trotter (b. July 9, 1909 in Peckham Rye, London - d. 1985, Peckham, London) better known simply as Grandad, was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses from 1981-1984. He was played by Lennard Pearce.

The character was Grandfather to Derek and Rodney Trotter. Del described his grandfather as "an out of work lamp-lighter waiting for gas to make a comeback" that was about as useful as "a pair of sunglasses on a bloke with one ear".

Back Story

Born on Tobacco Road on the docks in 1909, Grandad stated that his earliest memories were of watching the soldiers marching off to WW1 and witnessing their return after the armistice in 1919. He later spoke of the horror of these experiences with his now famous quote describing the wartime government policy “They promised us 'omes fit for 'eroes, we got 'eroes fit for 'omes”

In 1924 after leaving school, it would appear that Grandad got a job as a decorator working for the Council, but was sacked after a few days after he wallpapered over a serving hatch. He then began working as a lamp-lighter for the London Gas, Light & Coke Company but by the 1930’s, he was unemployed and living with his parents and his brothers; George and Albert in Peabody Buildings, Peckham Rye. In 1936 he and his friend Nobby Clarke ran away to Tangier to join the French Foreign Legion, they were however unsuccessful and ended up working for a weapons smuggler, gun-running into Spain during the Spanish Civil War. They were caught by the authorities and following interrogation were deported from Spain and all her territories and dominions. He returned to Peckham and joined the dole queues, marrying his wife sometime before the war.

During WW2 Grandad evidently served some time in the army as he told Del was given a double-headed coin by a fellow soldier and his son Reg checked his blood group on his old army records, however he must have been demobbed before the end of war as he temporarily separated from his wife and had an affair with Trigger’s Gran, while her husband was still fighting.

After the war Grandad had various short-term jobs before he retired, including working as a security officer at a warehouse in Chingford which he was sacked from after a janitor stole over three hundred briefcases from under his nose. His wife, who apparantly worked as a char-lady in these later years died when Rodney was still young.

In The Programme

Despite the fact that Grandad is largely infirm and useless, the Trotters' sense of family loyalty means that he would never be left without a home. He is, however, often treated with a level of light-hearted abuse by Del and Rodney when his docile nature becomes an inconvenience causing deperation. For example, in "The Yellow Peril", Grandad takes a phone call for Del; Del informs him to tell whoever is on the other end that he has gone out. Grandad informs the caller of this, but then looks rather confused; he mutters "I'm not sure" before shouting "Where've you gone to, Del?" Grandad is a terrible cook, he'll often walk into the living room and wail miserably "Del Boy, I've burnt yer bacon!" Del also played an April Fool on Grandad, telling him that the pools had called to say that he'd won half a million pounds. Grandad went to Soho and celebrated then realised that he didn't do the pools. Grandad's favourite television shows are Crossroads and The Dukes of Hazzard, as revealed in "Homesick" and "May The Force Be With You". He also owns an allotment, as mentioned in "The Russians Are Coming", as well as seen in "Mother Nature's Son".

However, despite his senility and simplicity, Grandad was more crafty than he let on - wangling himself a bungalow by feigning illness being one of his many talents as seen in "Homesick". Similarly, in "Who's a Pretty Boy?", he conned Delboy out of £5, informing him the canary he purchased from the pet shop cost him £50, when in reality cost him £45 (Del Boy finds out at the end of the episode, and replied "£45 Pounds?", to which Grandad innocently replies, "What did I say?") And in "A Slow Bus To Chingford" he almost succeeds in conning Del out of £50 by betting him that no-one will turn up for the Trotters' proposed 'ethnic bus tours of old London' - and then failing to deliver the tour's publicity leaflets (a ploy only foiled when Delboy discovers the discarded leaflets in the dust-chute at Nelson Mandela House). "It wasn't me, Del Boy," Grandad wails on being discovered on this occasion; "It was me brain!"

Given the task of minding the Trotter flat from the comfort of his much loved armchair, Grandad had an easy life. Grandad was also responsible for the spectacular (and noisy) failure of Del's chandelier cleaning business in "A Touch of Glass".

When Lennard Pearce died in 1984, writer John Sullivan chose not to replace him but to write the character's death into the series. A funeral was held for Grandad in "Strained Relations", which saw the Trotter brothers trying to come to terms with the loss of a man who had been such an integral part of their lives. However, such was the nature of the show that amongst the sadness were moments of brilliant comedy. At the funeral, Del sees what he thinks is Grandad's favourite hat, takes it back to the grave and throws it in. However, the audience later discover that the hat belonged to the priest. As Del and Rodney walk away from the grave, the workers begin to fill in the grave; Del turns to them and menacingly says "Oi! Gently." This episode also introduced Grandad's younger brother Albert. It is also known that apart from Albert, Grandad had two more brothers: George Trotter, whom he mentioned in the episode: "The Russians Are Coming"; and an unnamed sibling, presumably the father or mother of Del and Rodney's cousin Stan, who is seen at the funeral with his wife (Stan refers to George by his first name, making it impossible for Stan to be George's son).

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 22 November 2008, at 14:50.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Grandad".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Grandad

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.