Denzil Tulser
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| Denzil Tulser | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Only Fools and Horses, The Green Green Grass, and Rock & Chips character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Paul Barber Ashley Jerlach | ||||||||
| Duration | 1983, 1985, 1989, 1991-1993, 1996, 2001–2003: Only Fools and Horses 2005: The Green Green Grass 2010-2010: 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) | ||||||||
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Denzil Tulser (born 8 August 1945), is a character in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses played by Paul Barber.
Denzil is a long distance lorry driver, originally from Liverpool, and a good friend of Derek Trotter, and one of Del's victims when it comes to dodgy goods. In the 1983 episode "Who's A Pretty Boy?" Denzil's ex-wife Corinne could however see 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 incurred Corinne's wrath 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 cake. The final straw came when Denzil hired Del, Rodney and Grandad to paint the living room. They burnt a hole through the kettle, ruined the kitchen with the steam turning it into a "Turkish bath", and thought they had killed Corinne's canary (it was revealed that the canary had actually died before the Trotters arrived). Panicking, they sent Grandad to buy a replacement bird, hoping to fool Corinne. The plan however failed, as Corinne came home to find the bird that had died before she left for work had been resurrected, and the kettle with a hole in it.
Denzil and Corinne divorced later in the series, but Corinne herself only appeared in one episode, as the actress who played her (Eva Mottley) later committed suicide, so the character was written out of the show. Denzil's trade as a long-distance lorry driver also contributed to the divorce, as well as sending Denzil into a mental hospital. In the 1985 Christmas special "To Hull and Back", whilst driving to Hull, he 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 some food, and coffee to wake himself up. 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's losing his mind, he headed to the cliffs to relax for a bit, then the final straw came when he saw Del on a fishing trawler heading out to sea. Although Denzil didn't really imagine this, he was convinced he was seeing things and stressed out and ran off shouting hysterically "I'm sick!". During a police investigation in the same episode into diamond smuggling it was revealed Denzil had a nervous breakdown.
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, Boycie and the rest of the boys. When in detention in the science hall, Denzil had his eyebrows burnt off after Del and Trigger blew the science lab up with homemade fireworks.
In "The Jolly Boys' Outing", it was revealed that Denzil used to work as a bus driver with Sid, which meant he drove the coach to and from Margate after Harry the bus driver was overcome with fumes and presumed drunk.
Denzil made his last appearance in the first episode of the spinoff show The Green Green Grass, as he informs Boycie that the Driscoll Brothers are being paroled. He then made another appearance (not in person) in the episode "I Done It My Way" in 2009, where he appeared in a flashback episode of Only Fools and Horses.
Denzil also appeared in Rock & Chips in 2010, portrayed by Ashley Jerlach, who imitated Barber's distinctive Liverpool accent for the role.