Andy is a working-class figure who never actually works, living in Hartlepool, a harbour town in County Durham, in North East England.

The title of the strip is a pun on the local pronunciation of "handicap"; and the surname Capp signifies how Andy's cap always covered his eyes along with, metaphorically, his vision in life.

Andy's hobbies and activities include pigeon racing, darts, snooker (his cue's name is Delilah[5]), playing football (which always involves fights with the other players, and frequently ends with Andy being sent off), occasional cricket and rugby, betting on horses (and usually losing badly), getting drunk in the local pub (often falling into the canal and being fished out by a constable, and usually arriving home late as a result), ending up in the local gaol, fishing (and not catching anything bigger than a goldfish), unsuccessfully mooching money from everyone for beer, unsuccessfully flirting with barmaids (also yelling at them when he is not served), attempting to pick up bargirls (and usually being rejected,[6] although sometimes he is actually successful[7]), loafing and napping on the sofa, playing poker (and usually cheating with hidden cards, although plainly seen by the readers), and fighting with his long-suffering wife Florrie (also known as "Flo"), as well as being served burnt food by her.

However, Fergus McKenna, head of syndication at Trinity Mirror which publishes the Daily Mirror, denied that the newspaper had put pressure on Smythe to change Andy's habits, saying: "The truth is that Reg himself gave up smoking and he said there was no way Andy was going to carry on enjoying cigarettes when Reg couldn't".

[10] On more than one occasion, it is mentioned that Andy had been in the army (with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Reg Smythe's regiment) and was a World War II veteran of the North African campaign.

According to Don Markstein, Early on, the Andy Capp strip was accused of perpetuating stereotypes about Britain's Northerners, who are seen in other parts of England as chronically unemployed, dividing their time between the living room couch and the neighbourhood pub, with a few hours set aside for fistfights at football games ...

When he comes home, especially in the earlier strips, Flo often confronted him about his doings, sometimes striking him with either her fist or anything she could grab, for example a rolling pin, cricket bat or something similar with the intent to clobber him.

Whenever this happened (also mainly in the earlier strips), the roles are then reversed, with Andy usually confronting Flo for being late from going to bingo and sometimes striking her with either his fist or chasing her out the door with a push broom or a chair with the intent to clobber her with said object.

Andy's mother was similarly mentioned and also delivered dialogue from offstage, but her "appearances" were cut back significantly as the years passed.

Circa 2011, Kettle discontinued his work on the strip and was replaced by Lawrence Goldsmith and Sean Garnett, while Mahoney continued to draw.

Towards the end of 2020, Mahoney's credit began to be left off strips with a subtle but noticeably different style in both lettering and art.

In May 2012, Andy Capp (as well as Flo, Chalkie White, the Vicar, and Jackie the Barman) appeared as an animated series for the first time in promotional material for The Trinity Mirror-owned MirrorBingo.com website.

The animation was created by Teesside-born Chris Hunneysett, who drew from his own background to place Andy Capp in Middlesbrough.

Andy Capp had previously appeared in animated form in television adverts for the Post Office (1986) and Kit Kat (1993).

Published by Daily Mirror Books/Mirror Group Publishers unless otherwise noted[18]) In 1981, a stage musical based on the strip had a short run at London's Aldwych Theatre, with songs by Alan Price and Trevor Peacock, starring Tom Courtenay as Andy[8] and Val McLane as Florrie.

The series was poorly received and attracted some criticism for the way it played up to supposed stereotypes of Northern working-class men.

Players had to borrow money in order to replenish Andy's alcohol supply while avoiding fights with his wife Flo and the police.

Buster wore a cloth cap similar to Andy's until 1992, but the connection was not recognised in the parent strip and had limited development in the children's comic.

Buster often referred to his father, and Andy was seen in the comic attempting to find a gas leak in three frames of the 18 June 1960 strip.