Michael David Fisher (born 12 December 1950 in

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

in the BBC sitcom ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...

''. He was publican of the Nag's Head, the fictional

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

pub that frequently serves as a setting in the show. Mike was portrayed by Kenneth MacDonald, and appeared in the show from 1983 to 1996. Mike first appeared in ''Only Fools and Horses'' in the episode, '' Who's a Pretty Boy?'', in 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 ...

ingratiated himself with the new landlord by agreeing to a deal which would see Mike accept Del's £2,000 offer to re-decorate the pub, leaving them with £500 apiece and using the remaining £1,000 to pay Brendan O'Shaughnessy. With many scenes in subsequent episodes set in the Nag's Head, Mike became a regular character. Friendly but dull-witted, Mike was often on the receiving end of Del's shenanigans or attempts to sell his low-quality goods. He rarely managed to get to Del to pay off his bar tab or even to pay for his drinks as he ordered them. Among the goods he bought from Del were a hairdryer that was actually a

paint stripper Paint stripper, or paint remover, is a chemical product designed to remove paint, wood finishing, finishes, and coatings, while also cleaning the underlying surface. The product's material safety data sheet provides more safety information than ...

(leaving Mike with severe burns to the head), a malfunctioning

deep fryer A deep fryer (also referred to as a deep fat fryer), is a kitchen appliance used for deep frying. Deep frying is a method of cooking by submerging food into oil at high heat, typically between temperatures of . While commonly used in commercia ...

and a faulty fax machine. On the other hand, he was quite happy to con people out of their money when he could, evidenced by one occasion where he sold

Denzil Denzil is a Cornish given name. It may refer to: People *Denzil Batchelor, British journalist and writer *Denzil Best, American jazz percussionist * Denzil Botus, Trinidadian pannist *Denzil Davies, British politician *Denzil Dean Harber, British T ...

a plate of beef stew for £1, then sold exactly the same thing to a yuppie for £2.50, calling it "

Boeuf Bourguignon Beef bourguignon () or bœuf bourguignon (; ), also called beef Burgundy, and ''bœuf à la Bourguignonne'',''Random House Dictionary'online at dictionary.com/ref> is a French beef stew braised in red wine, often red Burgundy, and beef stock, ...

." When Kenneth MacDonald died in 2001, writer John Sullivan added a storyline to new episode "

If They Could See Us Now "If They Could See Us Now" is an episode of the BBC sitcom, ''Only Fools and Horses'', first screened on 25 December 2001 as the first part of the early 2000s Christmas trilogy and the sixteenth Christmas special. In the episode, the Trotters los ...

", which explained that Mike had been caught up in Del and Rodney's shady financial dealings and attempted to

embezzle Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

the brewery in order to cover his losses, for which he was imprisoned. Café owner Sid took over Mike's position of landlord. In the 2015 book ''He Who Dares'', a fictional Del Boy autobiography, it is said that Mike's prison sentence had been reduced and he had retired to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

to write a memoir of his time inside. Del had left him a number of messages, but had never received any responses.

References

Only Fools and Horses characters Fictional bartenders Fictional English people Television characters introduced in 1983 Male characters in television {{comedy-tv-char-stub