Joan Trotter Sr.

Joan Trotter Sr.
Portrayer	Kellie Bright (2010-2011)
First seen	"Rock & Chips"
Last seen	"The Frog and the Pussycat"
Duration	2010-2011
Profile
Date of birth	Circa 1927 (died March 12, 1964)
Occupation	Ice cream girl at the Ritz Cinema Part time filing clerk at the town hall
Family	Reg (husband) Freddie Robdal (lover - deceased) Ted (father-in-law - deceased) Vi (mother-in-law - deceased) Derek (son) Rodney (son) Albert (uncle-in-law - deceased) Ada (aunt-in-law - deceased) George (uncle) Jack (uncle) Raquel Turner (future daughter-in-law, fiancée of Derek) Cassandra (daughter-in-law, wife of Rodney) Damien (grandson) Joan Trotter Jr. (granddaughter)

Profile

Joan Mavis "Joanie" Trotter Sr. is the oft-mentioned mother of Del Boy and Rodney, appearing regularly by name in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, though she remained unseen until the 2010 prequel Rock & Chips. Passing away at a young age, Joan, according to her headstone (seen three times in Only Fools and Horses - "The Yellow Peril", "One Door Closes" and "Sleepless in Peckham", respectively) died March 12th, 1964, after a long time spent suffering from an unkown illness.

Personality

Joan is a markedly idealistic character, who invests her time reading trashy romance novels and watching Hollywood movies in the rundown Ritz cinema, seemingly to escape the reality of her loveless marriage to Reg Trotter and precarious financial situation. Implied to have had a string of extra-marital affairs, she seems to be constantly searching for something more, changing her hairstyle rapidly to match that of big-screen starlets as if it were that easy to simply step out of her own shoes and into theirs. As stated by Irene "Reenie" Turpin: "You read too many rubbishy books, watch too many of these soppy films and believe them."

Despite this, Joan is hard-working, holding down several jobs at once in order to keep her family afloat even while she dreams of escape. For a long time she was the sole earner of the Trotter household, employed as a part-time manager of the Ritz cinema and as a filing clerk at the Peckham council building. As far as her son, husband and in-laws were aware, she also worked as Freddie Robdal's charlady three days a week; however, this was merely an excuse for the two, involved in a passionate affair, to meet without suspicion.

She seems to have had an extremely close relationship with her son, Derek Trotter, who years later still mourns her death and spends each anniversary by her graveside. For Joan's part, she refused to break away from Peckham with her lover Freddie until she could be certain that the unreliable Del would be well-looked after - ultimately, after a disaster with Del Boy's fiancee, this would mean she'd never left Peckham at all. Ironically, Del would later prove himself to be well capable of looking after himself following Reg's desertation. Her other son, Rodney, also seems to think fondly of her, although due to her premature death he has few memories of his own; most information gleaned about his mother is filtered down through the rose-tinted spectacles of Del Boy.