Grandpa's Character Study

Grandpa is a senile old man who doesn't really stride away from the past. He is always comparing the world wars that he has lived through to the present events that are happening in front of him;

'Fifty third derby I've seen in my life, 'cept in the last world war, when they ran it at Newmarket, on account of the Zeppelins. Or was that the first world war?'

I believe that he always reminisces about his past because he doesn't really like the present. It seems like he misses the wars and his life before this family he isn't really part of. This tells me he is also quite lonely and sad as he doesn't feel like he is part of anything anymore or has anything in common with his family, instead speaking aloud to himself. It also shows me that he loves the derby as he has seen it 53 times which tells me his hobby is gambling on horses.

He is also always moaning about a conspiracy that the higher class are trying to run against the working class;

'I put it all down to that man on the telly with the hat, he's in on the conspiracy to cheat the working man out of his gambling rights.'

Again, this quote also tells me Grandpa is a fan of gambling on horses and that he dislikes anyone who makes it harder or more expensive for him to do so. He seems like the sort of person to be spiteful when talking about anyone he dislikes. The quote also tells me he is working class. Knowing he is working class, I reckon he speaks rather common and considering the inspiration from 'Only fools and horses' I'd say he speaks with a cockney accent.

Grandpa also enjoys his own humour and jokes and loves a good old laugh at himself and quite directly at others;

'Funny thing about coppers, they hate you calling em copper. Hello copper!'

Grandpa has a good sense of humour from what I've found, he cracks these jokes that he finds funny like the one above aloud to anyone that can hear. It tells me he wants people to find him funny and laugh along with him. Maybe this is due to him being lonely with his lack of family connection or maybe Grandpa was somebody who was the comedic relief within his group of pals during his generation. Maybe he misses those days and is once again reminiscing about them but showing the audience in a different way, through the emotion of laughter instead of actually talking directly about what he is reminiscing about.

Exterior Vision

These are some of the items I can see Grandpa wearing/using. There's a wooden walking stick which has been a staple of old age pensionerism in my family, the large 1970's glasses look comedic and dated, just like grandpa and the slippers or some slipper like shoes which are comfortable on his arthritic toes and dry skinned soles. From what I've seen by people watching I think these will add believability and humour to his character.

The two gentlemen in the picture above are from two classic television series. The right is from 'The last of the summer wine' and the left is the character Grandad from 'Only fools and horses'. They are both humorous, senile and 'old' characters which I believe Grandpa fits into. They wear heavy tweed jackets, button shirts with a slightly scruffy collar, hats, one wears a wool jumper and have a little a little bit of facial hair. White of course.