The Second Time Around (Only Fools and Horses) that he and Pauline are getting married, and that Pauline will be staying with the Trotters. The next night, Pauline gets on Rodney and Grandad's nerves by refusing to cook for both of them. Del decides that he and Pauline will have to apply for a house of their own. The next morning, as Rodney and Grandad decide to leave for Auntie Rose's cottage in Clacton, and Pauline goes shopping for her wedding ring, Del gets a phone call from Trigger, who tells him that Bobby Finch died of food poisoning. Del does not believe it at first, but eventually
Del Boy Boy at 15, before Rodney has been born. This is confirmed when the teacher complains about the boys having to stay at school for another year because of a change in the law. (The school leaving age in the UK was raised to 16 in 1972.) This, however, is inconsistent with "Big Brother" (Series 1, 1981), when Del states that he is 13 years older than Rodney. If this were so, Del should have been 12 or 13 in "Rock & Chips". The 2015 novel "He Who Dares..." confirms that Del was born on 10 December 1945. Del Boy works