Only Fools writer didn’t want Sir David Jason as Del Boy

Only Fools makers nearly made plonkers of themselves when they tried to get another actor to play Del Boy instead of Sir David Jason

British comedy legend Sir David Jason very nearly didn’t become Del Boy because the writer of Only Fools didn’t rate him.

Despite Jason’s growing reputation for TV comedy in the 1980s, John Sullivan – who created Only Fools And Horses – couldn’t see him for the part of wheeler dealer Derek Trotter because of Granville – the wet-behind the ears role he played in rival BBC sitcom, Open All Hours.

Jason told the Radio Times: “John Sullivan, the writer of Only Fools, originally said, ‘Oh, we don’t want him. He always plays a loser’, because he’d seen me as little dreamy Granville. In his mind, I couldn’t possibly play a clever, witty hustler, but the director convinced him to at least meet me.”

Fortunately Sullivan gave him a go and the TV audiences duly got their sides split by classic Del Boy scenes involving smashed chandeliers and their anti-hero falling through a nightclub bar.

However, it wasn’t the slapstick that made Only Fools so successful believes the veteran actor: “Basically, it’s about family. Not only was the writing brilliant, it had a classic structure of three people sharing a home.

“You have the governor/father figure, Derek Trotter, then Rodney the lad, plus the paternal figure in Grandad and then Uncle Albert. When we read the first script, we were all very excited because it was so funny and clever.

“I said, ‘The secret is, this isn’t a sitcom, it’s a situation drama. It’s the journey of these people living together’. It just so happens that the characters do or say things to make us laugh. But it’s not joke-telling.”

Despite Sullivan’s early protestations the team behind the show quickly realised Jason’s comedy chops were first rate and regularly allowed him and the cast to influence future scripts.

Jason, now 86, revealed: “I’d spent many years doing comedy, theatrical farces, pantomimes and summer seasons, so I brought all that knowledge to the shows I did. For example, one day we were rehearsing and I asked the director, ‘Can Derek and Rodney go into the kitchen?’ We’d never used it before. Then we had Albert coming in and making a sandwich, which led to a great joke nobody had thought of.”

From 1976 for nine years he also played Granville opposite Ronnie Barker’s Arkwright in Open All Hours, before returning for the 2013 reboot Still Open All Hours. Now he’s reunited with his grocer’s overalls in a final outing for the feature-length retrospective, Open All Hours: Inside Out.

What drew him to the role of Granville?

“Two words: Ronnie Barker,” replied Jason. “I’d worked with him three or four times previously, including in one of his great showcases, Porridge, and I was a great fan of his. I wanted to just work in his shadow, really.

“He was such a master at the craft of comedy, and I hoped that if I worked with him, something might rub off, you never know. The one thing I enjoyed more than his huge ability was his humility, because he knew you don’t get good comedy from just acting.”

Besides Barker, Sir David Jason learned from the greats when it came to comedy.

“Often physical comedy like Laurel and Hardy, where you have the knowing fool and the unknowing fool. When you put those two together, that magic just happens.”

Open All Hours: Inside Out airs on U&Gold May 7.

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