Boycie
Michael Aubrey Boyce (b.
31 January 1948,
Woolwich) or
Boycie, as he is more commonly known, is a character in the popular
BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses played by
John Challis. His story is continued in the spin-off series
Green Green Grass, which began filming in
June 2005, in which Boycie and family have fled from a gang of criminals to the countryside.
Boycie is the local second-hand car dealer and for a long time was the richest and most successful regular at the Nag's Head pub. Boycie, although materially successful and ostentatious in his spending, remains competitive with
Del and other friends, enjoying their company, if only in order to take the chance of revelling in his superiority.
Boycie and Del share a loose friendship, but prefer to play a long-standing game of one-upmanship. Boycie is at pains to maintain the upper hand over Del in that he is a
mason, a successful businessman and of superior wealth. One of the character's most famous trademarks is his deep, mocking laugh, usually following a sarcastic, biting remark at the expense of
Del or other characters.
It is, however, usually Del (a character more street-smart and popular with the Nag's Head social group) that wins 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 amongst 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 (the fictional) Kings Avenue, the most expensive street in South-east London, as well as owning a holiday cottage in
Cornwall. His hobby is breeding tropical fish.
Boycie's middle name was revealed during an episode in which the series regulars took part in a seance. The medium asked for an Aubrey. Boycie replied. Del Boy said "You never told us your name is Aubrey." Boycie replied "Nor would you if you were called Aubrey."
