Roy Slater (born 15 May 1948)
is a
recurring character
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main f ...
in the British sitcom ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
''. He was played by
Jim Broadbent
James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...
, and in the prequel ''
Rock & Chips
''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddi ...
'' by Calum MacNab.
''Only Fools and Horses''
Background
Despite only making three on-screen appearances, Slater's background is revealed in detail during the course of the show's history.
As a child, Slater attempted to be part of
Del Boy
Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, '' Rock & Chips''. He was played by David Jason in the original ...
's gang at school as they used to sit next to each other in class; but he was always a loner, hated amongst his peers and infamous for his deceitful nature. Eventually, out of bitterness for the others' ostracising him, Slater joined the
police force
The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizen ...
at the age of 18 and frequently engaged in
unethical activity to try to frame and prosecute not just his old school friends but anyone possible – including his own family, as revealed in "
May the Force Be with You".
His own ego would eventually turn him to crime: leading him into diamond smuggling, which is the main focus of the episode "
To Hull and Back
"To Hull and Back" is the fourth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show and also the first special to not be set around Chris ...
" and a strong part feature of the plot to "
The Class of '62". His initial prosecution for diamond smuggling landed him a five-year prison sentence.
Del's domestic partner
Raquel Turner
Rachel "Raquel" Turner (formerly Slater; born 4 June 1957See ) is a fictional character from the BBC television sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', in which she is Del Boy's long-term partner. She is portrayed by Tessa Peake-Jones.
Character cre ...
is revealed to be Slater's ex-wife in "
The Class of '62"; he was married to her for four years before separating. Throughout the show's history Raquel would frequently comment how nasty he could be as a husband.
"May the Force Be with You"
Slater is introduced in "
May the Force Be with You", the fifth episode of series three, having recently been promoted to the position of
Detective Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...
. He has returned to Peckham and is investigating the theft of a microwave oven which turns out to be connected to Del.
The personality of his character and specific details of his past are revealed in this episode, including his feud with his peers, his dishonest practices and his generally villainous behaviour. As well as the main characters making clear their thoughts and attitudes towards him, his own colleague PC Terry Hoskins reveals that even his peers in the police service reject him, and Slater admits during the episode to having arrested his own father in the past (for riding a bicycle with a defective rear light), alienating him from his family it was also hinted by Del that it was Slater's bike that his Dad borrowed from him.
"To Hull and Back"
Slater is the main antagonist in "
To Hull and Back
"To Hull and Back" is the fourth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show and also the first special to not be set around Chris ...
", his involvement in crime is the main focus of the storyline, with the Trotters becoming involved in a diamond smuggling operation part-headed – unbeknownst to them – by Slater.
His position of authority within the police has been exploited a number of times to successfully smuggle diamonds into England, and over the course of the episode he almost succeeds again, only to be thwarted by Hoskins who drives him into a
sting
Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene.
STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...
and lands Slater with a five-year prison sentence.
"The Class of '62"
Slater's final appearance in character was in "
The Class of '62", in which he has been paroled from prison after three and a half years of his five-year sentence and returns to Peckham, setting up a school reunion to which
Del
Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
,
Boycie
Herman Terrance Aubrey Boyce (born 31 January 1948), also known as Boycie and Farmer Boyce, is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', played by John Challis. His story is continued in the spin-off series '' The Green ...
,
Trigger
Trigger may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Trigger (''Only Fools and Horses''), in the TV sitcom
* Trigger Argee, in science fiction short stories by James H. Schmitz
* Devil Trigger, a transformation ability of ...
, and
Denzil
Denzil may refer to:
People
*Denzil Batchelor, British journalist and writer
*Denzil Best, American jazz percussionist
* Denzil Botus, Trinidadian pannist
* Denzil Angus Carty, American Episcopal priest
*Denzil Davies, British politician
*Denzil D ...
are invited, with
Rodney joining them.
Over the course of the episode, it is learnt that Del's girlfriend
Raquel is Slater's ex-wife, and the school reunion was merely a set-up to gain contact with her regarding his divorce proceedings, as he knew from the start that she was living with Del. It is also revealed that Slater has returned to the illegal diamond trade, which Del and Rodney use to blackmail Slater into giving Raquel a fair divorce, no longer pestering her and leaving Peckham for good, under the threat of them informing the police about Slater's return to crime. This prompts Slater's departure from the series.
Slater appears once more in the series but not in a character appearance, in the final episode "
Sleepless in Peckham" when Del and Rodney are given an old photograph of the very first
Jolly Boys' outing from 1960, in which Slater is pictured. The first Jolly Boys' Outing forms part of the storyline of the prequel series ''
Rock & Chips
''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddi ...
'', which features a young Slater.
The character of Slater was based on another corrupt police officer in Sullivan's previous series Citizen Smith, PC Tofkin played by John Tordoff.
''Rock & Chips''
A young Slater is shown in the prequel series
Rock & Chips
''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddi ...
, played by Calum MacNab. Slater is initially shown as a prefect at school, trying to intimidate Del and his gang but ultimately being insulted by both the gang and his superiors from whom he attempts to gain friendship.
He is part of the first Jolly Boys' Outing as noted at the end of
Sleepless in Peckham, in which he is tricked into taking drugs and passes out before they reach their destination. Over the course of the series, he joins the police cadets and attempts to arrest Del and
Jumbo Mills in the market for selling illegally imported records. He takes them to the station, only to be denied a bona fide arrest and ignored by his superior Sgt Foster, who also lets Del and Jumbo off with a warning and seizes their records.
Sources
* ''
May the Force be With You'',
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
S03E05
* ''
To Hull and Back
"To Hull and Back" is the fourth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 1985. It was the first feature-length edition of the show and also the first special to not be set around Chris ...
'',
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
Christmas special 1985
* ''
The Class of '62'',
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
S07E04
* ''
Rock & Chips
''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddi ...
'',
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
prequel series
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Roy
Only Fools and Horses characters
Fictional British police detectives
Television characters introduced in 1983
Fictional smugglers
English male characters in sitcoms