Boycie

2025-06-14T18:50:32Z

2A02:C7C:840D:8700:B827:82E7:C60A:8551:

{{Short description|Fictional character from Only Fools and Horses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox soap character
| series = [[Only Fools and Horses]] [[The Green Green Grass]]
| name = Boycie
| image = Boycie.jpg
| imagesize = 220px
| caption = John Challis as Boycie
| portrayer = [[John Challis]] (1981–2009, 2011, 2015) Stephen Lloyd (2010–11)
| first = "[[Go West Young Man (Only Fools and Horses)|Go West Young Man]]" (OFAH) "[[Rock & Chips]]"
| last = "[[Sleepless in Peckham]]" (OFAH) "[[For Richer For Poorer (The Green Green Grass)|For Richer For Poorer]]" (''The Green Green Grass'')
| creator = [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]]
| introducer = Ray Butt (1981) [[Gareth Gwenlan]] (2005)
| years=
| classification = [[List of Only Fools and Horses characters|Former; regular]]
| occupation ={{nowrap|[[Businessperson|Businessman]] [[Automobile salesperson|Car salesman]] [[Farmer]]}}
| spinoffs = ''The Green Green Grass'' (2005–2009) ''Rock & Chips'' (2010)
| wife = [[Marlene Boyce|Marlene Lane]] (1969—)
| sons = [[List of The Green Green Grass characters#Tyler|Tyler Boyce]]
| grandfathers = Alfred Boyce
| relatives = Enoch Boyce
}}
'''Herman Terrance Aubrey Boyce''' (born 31 January 1948), also known as '''Boycie''' and '''Farmer 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 Tulser|Denzil]], he is one of only two characters to appear in all three.

==Profile==
Boycie is a local second-hand car dealer from [[Lewisham]]; for a long time, he was the richest and most successful regular at the Nag's Head pub. His drink of choice is a large [[cognac (drink)|cognac]].

Boycie, although materially successful and ostentatious in his spending, remains competitive with [[Del Boy|Del]] and other friends, enjoying their company, although he does enjoy revelling in his superiority. Despite this, it appears that he dearly loves his friends throughout the series. He generally wears clothes and carries accessories synonymous with 1980s [[yuppie]] success, such as [[trench coat]]s and very early [[mobile telephone]]s. In the episode ''[[Sickness and Wealth]]'', in which the series regulars took part in a séance, the medium ([[Uncle Albert]]'s girlfriend, Elsie Partridge) asked for "an Audrey. Audrey. No... Aubrey?" When Boycie replied that his middle name was Aubrey, Trigger said "You never told us your name is Aubrey." Boycie replied "Nor would you if your name was Aubrey." The ''Peckham Archives'' book suggests that Boycie's father was a [[Luftwaffe]] Officer.

Boycie and Del share a loose friendship, but prefer to play a long-standing game of one-upmanship. They play each other at poker, in which they both cheat and the stakes are high.<ref>{{Citation|last=BBCWorldwide|title=Del Boy's Poker face – Only Fools and Horses – BBC|date=2012-05-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_fHScmyWTA|access-date=2016-05-14}}</ref> Boycie is at pains to maintain the upper hand over Del in that he is a [[freemasonry|mason]], a successful businessman and wealthier than the Trotters. One of his trademarks is his deep, mocking laugh, usually following a sarcastic, biting remark at the expense of other characters, as well as his distinctive [[South London]] nasal twang. Boycie made his first appearance in second episode of the first series; he made sporadic appearances from series 2–5 and appeared more frequently in series 6 and 7.

It is, however, usually Del, a character more street smart and popular with the Nag's Head social group, who gains the upper hand, often trading on the fact that he has a long-standing, flirtatious friendship with Boycie's wife, Marlene. Del has alluded to past sexual encounters with Marlene, and to her reputation among the Nag's Head regulars as "The Peckham Bicycle". He has also claimed to have inside knowledge, through Marlene, of Boycie's marital secrets, and has alleged that Boycie has at times suffered from [[impotence]]; these rumours were not fully quashed even after the eventual birth – following many attempts – of Boycie and Marlene's son, Tyler.

Boycie enjoys overt displays of wealth, formerly living in King's Avenue, the most expensive street in south east London. He also owns a holiday cottage in [[Cornwall]].

In ''[[The Green Green Grass]],'' Boycie is portrayed with the same personality as in ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' but he seems to be more respected by women. In one episode, "[[Sex and the Country]]", he is seduced by Tyler's English teacher, who admits she likes more mature men, and in another episode, "Life Swap", Boycie's swapped wife tries to seduce him.

In two episodes, there are allusions to Boycie having had at least two extramarital affairs. In "[[Go West Young Man (Only Fools and Horses)|Go West Young Man]]", he reveals he has a "bit on the side", for whom he buys an E-type Jaguar, but it is later crashed into while Del is driving it. In "[[Dates (Only Fools and Horses)|Dates]]", Del blackmails Boycie into doing a favour for him by threatening to inform Marlene of an encounter Boycie had with a woman in [[Sheffield]].

It is revealed in the episode "[[From Prussia With Love]]" that Boycie spent some time in prison in his youth. His criminal record includes convictions for perjury, embezzlement, conspiring to pervert the course of justice, the fraudulent conversion of traveller's cheques and attempting to bribe the Mayor of [[Lambeth]].

In ''[[Rock & Chips]]'', Boycie is portrayed as a young man and a member of Del's gang at school. He is still the tight person seen in the original stories, although he is much more amiable and humorous as a young man. Later in the series, after leaving school, he gets a job as a car cleaner for Alberto Balsam, a Spanish second-hand car dealer. Though Boycie is clean shaven throughout the prequel, Sullivan had reportedly intended Boycie to grow his trademark moustache in later episodes.

==First name==
Throughout ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' and ''[[The Green Green Grass]]'', Boycie is given many first names, including Aubrey, which he reveals is his middle name, as can be heard during the séance scene in the episode "[[Sickness and Wealth]]". At his remarriage, after discovering his forty-year marriage to Marlene was unofficial because the registrar was unlicenced, the vicar names him as ''Herman Aubrey Boyce''. However, in "[[Strangers on the Shore]]", his first name is clearly seen as Terrance on the contract book towards the end of the episode. The ''Peckham Archives'' book has his full name as ''Herman Terrance Aubrey Boyce''.

== References ==
<references />

{{Only Fools and Horses}}
{{The Green Green Grass}}

[[Category:Only Fools and Horses characters]]
[[Category:Fictional businesspeople]]
[[Category:Fictional people from London]]
[[Category:Fictional farmers]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1981]]
[[Category:Freemasonry in fiction]]
[[Category:English male characters in sitcoms]]

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Boycie