Marlene surely deserved a medal for marrying a man like Boycie. That said, she's just as shallow as he is, and was dubbed the "Peckham bicycle" for her, um, eclectic range of lovers.
Sue Sue Holderness Much lovelier is the lady who brought Marlene to life, Sue Holderness. As a teenager she wanted to be a show-jumper but didn't have the money to train as a rider, so she went into acting instead. She was told early on that her talents lay in comedy (which is why she actually turned down the Royal Shakespeare Company), and her turn in a sketch show called End of Part One led to her landing the role of Marlene in both Only Fools and its spin-off, The Green Green Grass. Good thing the show-jumping never happened, really.