| Mike Fisher | |
| Portrayer | Kenneth MacDonald |
| First seen | Who's a Pretty Boy? |
| Last seen | Time On Our Hands |
| Duration | 1983-1996 |
| Profile | |
| Date of birth | 12 December 1954 |
| Occupation | The Nag's Head Landlord |
| Family | Wife - Ex-Wife (Divorced) |
Michael David "Mike" Fisher was a character and land lord of The Nags Head. His first episode was Who's a Pretty Boy? (22 Dec 1983). His last episode was Time on Our Hands (29 Dec 1996). Actor Kenneth MacDonald died in 2001 so Mike was said to be in prison for fraud in If They Could See Us Now.
Biography
Michael David Fisher was born in about 1950 in London. Not much is known about his early background but he met his wife aged 18. They later married but divorced in 1973. Mike used to live in the East End of London and ran a pub opposite Eddie Chambers. Eddie later moved to The Isle Of Wight, which he classed as emigration.
In 1983, Mike left the East End and was living in Peckham, London, SE15 and took over as landlord of a local boozer there, The Nag's Head. Unfortunately he would often be made a mug of by a local market trader who drove a 3 wheel van and wore camel hair coats. Upon his arrival to Peckham, Mike heard all about this man who he'd soon meet.
Only Fools & Horses
The Trotters meet Mike Fisher (Who's a Pretty Boy?)
Mike first appeared in Only Fools and Horses at the end of the episode Who's a Pretty Boy?, in which Del ingratiated himself with the new landlord by agreeing to a deal which would see Mike accept Del's £2000 offer to re-decorate the pub, leaving them with £500 apiece and using the remaining £1000 to pay Brendan O' Shaugnassy. With many scenes in subsequent episodes set in the Nag's Head, Mike became a regular character.
Mike was cheery but had to put up with the pesky regular customer Del who was always trying to sell him some of his dodgy goods.
In 1996, Mike's bothersome regular customer Del became rich and left the area to move to the countryside. Del often tried to con Mike into buying the junk he sold. Now that Del had left Peckham, Mike could finally get some peace and quiet. Mike kept in touch with Del though.
Over the years Mike rarely managed to get to Del to pay off his bar tab or even to pay for his drinks as he ordered them, instead putting them on the 'slate'. He later comments that it's gotten so far out of hand he could retile the roof with them.
Among the goods he bought from Del were a hairdryer which was actually a paint stripper (leaving Mike with severe burns to his head), a deep fryer (which soon exploded) and a fax machine which didn't work.
On the other hand, he was quite happy to con people out of their money when he could, evidenced by one occasion where he charged Denzil two pounds for a plate of stew, then sold exactly the same thing to a yuppie, only this time calling it "Boeuf Bourguignon" and charging £2.50.
1996 - 2001
In 2000 Mike invested his savings into a dodgy South American stock market which his mate Del Boy had also invested in. The stock market crashed and Mike tried to recoup his losses by embezzling the brewery. He was later jailed for it. Del Boy and his family had never sold their Peckham flat so they moved back to Peckham as they were potless. Sid, who ran Sid's Cafe took over as landlord at Mike's request. Bad move though as Sid had run a very unhygienic cafe. However Sid did seem to clean up a lot when he took over as Nags Head landlord.
He Who Dares (2015)
It was revealed in the 2015 autobiography He Who Dares that Mike's prison sentence was reduced, and he retired from the pub game to move to the Isle of Wight and start writing a memoir of his time inside. Since then, Del kept leaving Mike messages, but never got any response back. Since then, Mike is probably enjoying his retirement on the Isle Of Wight. He may be back in touch with his old mate and friendly rival Eddie Chambers again who ran a pub on the Isle Of Wight.
Personality
Good-natured but often gullible, Mike was often on the receiving end of Del's scams or attempts to sell his low-quality goods.
Behind The Scenes
When Kenneth MacDonald died in 2001, writer John Sullivan added a storyline to new episode If They Could See Us Now, which explained that Mike had been caught up in Del and Rodney's shady financial dealings and attempted to embezzle the brewery in order to cover his losses, for which he was imprisoned. Cafe owner Sid began to take over Mike's position of landlord.