Denzil Tulser

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Denzil Tulser
Only Fools and Horses,
The Green Green Grass,
and Rock & Chips character
Denzil Tulser.jpg
Portrayed by Paul Barber
Ashley Jerlach
Duration1983–1985, 1989
1991–1996
2001–2003:
Only Fools and Horses
2005:
The Green Green Grass
2010–2011:
Rock & Chips
First appearance"Who's a Pretty Boy?"
Last appearance"Sleepless in Peckham";
Only Fools and Horses
"I Done It My Way";
The Green Green Grass
Classification Former; regular
Created by John Sullivan
Spin-off
appearances		 Rock & Chips (2010–2011)
In-universe information
OccupationLorry driver
Bus driver (formerly)
BrothersCarl Tulser
Four others
WifeCorinne (divorced)
NephewsCalvin

Denzil Tulser (born 8 August 1948), [1] is a character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses , played by Paul Barber.

Denzil is a long-distance lorry driver originally from Liverpool, a good friend of Derek Trotter and one of Del's frequent victims when it comes to dubious antics. Denzil, who has five brothers, moved to Peckham from Liverpool aged 13. He attended Dockside Secondary Modern and managed to make his way into the gang of Del, Trigger and Boycie. When in detention in the science labs, Denzil had his eyebrows burnt off after Del and Trigger blew the lab up with homemade fireworks. In the 1983 episode "Who's A Pretty Boy?", Denzil's wife Corinne saw through Del and stated that whenever Denzil and Del got together, Denzil ended up drunk or out of pocket, to which Denzil protests "Yeah I know, but he's a mate".

Del earned Corinne's hatred by ruining her wedding day food after his fridge broke down, leaving the guests eating pie and chips and Corinne and Denzil cutting a jam sponge instead of their wedding cake. The final straw came when Denzil hired Del, Rodney and Grandad to paint the living room. They burnt a hole through the bottom of the kettle, ruining the kitchen with the steam, and thought they had killed Corinne's canary. Desperate, they sent Grandad to buy a replacement bird, hoping to trick Corinne. The plan, however, backfired, as Corinne came home and told them she had found the bird dead earlier that morning before she left for work.

Eva Mottley, who played Corrine, died by suicide in 1985, having appeared in only one episode. Following this, Corrine was written out and it was revealed that she and Denzil later divorced, with Denzil's work as a long-distance lorry driver contributed to the divorce.

In the 1985 Christmas special "To Hull and Back", while driving to Hull, Denzil began to hear Del's voice. Del had been locked into the back of the lorry after using it for a secret meeting with Boycie and Abdul. Arriving at Hull, Denzil headed into a café to get breakfast. When eating, he saw a reflection of Del's Reliant Regal van driving past. He then saw Del when stopped at a crossroads. Thinking he was hallucinating, Denzil headed to the cliffs to relax. However, he then saw Del on a fishing trawler heading out to sea. Although Denzil did not actually imagine any of these things, he ran off shouting hysterically "I'm sick!". During a police investigation into diamond smuggling later in the episode, it was revealed Denzil had had a nervous breakdown.

In "The Jolly Boys' Outing" (1989), it was revealed that Denzil had previously worked as a bus driver with Sid, which meant he was able to drive the coach to Margate after the original driver had become incapacitated after being overcome with petrol fumes.

Denzil made his last appearance in the first episode of the spinoff show The Green Green Grass , when he informed Boycie that the Driscoll Brothers were being paroled. He was also seen in the episode "I Done It My Way" in 2009, where he appeared in a flashback episode of Only Fools and Horses .

In 2010, the character of Denzil appeared in the prequel series Rock & Chips , where he was portrayed by Ashley Jerlach, who imitated Barber's distinctive Liverpool accent for the role.

Related Research Articles

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Only Fools and Horses.... is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it stars David Jason as ambitious market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter and Nicholas Lyndhurst as his younger half-brother Rodney Trotter, alongside a supporting cast. The series follows the Trotters' highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Critically and popularly acclaimed, the series received numerous awards, including recognition from BAFTA, the National Television Awards, and the Royal Television Society, as well as winning individual accolades for both Sullivan and Jason. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll.

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Grandad (<i>Only Fools and Horses</i>) Fictional character from Only Fools and Horses

Edward Kitchener "Ted" Trotter, better known as Grandad, is a fictional character who was one of the original leads of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. He appeared in the show's first three series, played by Lennard Pearce. The character is grandfather to Del Boy and Rodney Trotter. Pearce's death in December 1984 was written into the series with the death of Grandad. His place was taken by Uncle Albert.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boycie</span> Fictional character from Only Fools and Horses

Herman Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by John Challis. His story is continued in the spin-off series The Green Green Grass in which Boycie and his family flee to the countryside to escape from the Driscoll Brothers. A younger Boycie also appears in the prequel series Rock & Chips. Along with Denzil, he is one of only two characters to appear in all three.

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"To Hull and Back" is the fourth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show and also the first special not to feature or mention the holiday of Christmas itself in the episode. Parts of the special were shot on location in Amsterdam and unlike most other episodes was shot entirely on film and not before a studio audience. In the episode, the Trotters agree to smuggle diamonds from Amsterdam for Boycie.

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"The Class of '62" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the fourth episode of series 7, and was first broadcast on 20 January 1991. In the episode, Del Boy, Rodney, Boycie, Denzil and Trigger attend a school reunion which, to their surprise, has been arranged by Roy Slater.

"A Losing Streak" is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. In the episode, Del Boy plays a high-stakes game of poker with Boycie. Also, this is the only episode in the series in which Boycie serves as an antagonist.

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"Who's a Pretty Boy?" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the penultimate episode of Series 3 and was first broadcast on 22 December 1983. In the episode, Del persuades Denzil to let them redecorate his flat, despite the objections of Denzil's wife Corrine. Things go awry when they think they have killed Corrine's pet canary.

"Danger UXD" is an episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. It was the second episode of series 6 and first broadcast on 15 January 1989. In the episode, Del acquires a batch of faulty sex dolls, which have inadvertently been filled with an explosive gas.

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"I Done It My Way" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, The Green Green Grass. It aired on 19 February 2009, as the seventh episode of the fourth series. This episode acted as a 'clip show' for both Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass. In total, the episode contained around forty clips, some of which were made specially for this episode. When series 4 was released on DVD, both separately, as well as part of a box set, the episode was left out, because of the archive clips. Even digital comedy channel Gold refuse to show the episode because of this, and is not available to watch on any catch-up services, including BBC iPlayer.

<i>Rock & Chips</i> British television miniseries

Rock & Chips is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddie Robdal and Joan and Reg Trotter. Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played Rodney in Only Fools and Horses, plays Robdal alongside James Buckley, Kellie Bright (Joan), Shaun Dingwall (Reg) and Phil Daniels (Grandad). The Shazam and BBC Studios Comedy Drama co-production was written by Only Fools and Horses creator John Sullivan, directed by Dewi Humphreys and produced by Gareth Gwenlan.

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References

  1. ↑ "Comedy - Only Fools and Horses - Denzil".
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