22 January 2024 , 18:15
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Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst became overnight sensations thanks to Only Fools And Horses.
David, 83, shot to fame as the iconic Peckham market trader Del Boy and starred alongside Nicholas, who played his hapless younger brother Rodney Trotter, while Lennard Pearce played Grandad and Buster Merryfield was later cast as Uncle Albert. The show ran from 1981 until 2003.
Despite the BBC sitcom's immense success, rumours swirled about the relationships between the cast, with a reported 'divide' between Sir David and Nicholas. In 2022, the Del Boy star revealed that the pair didn't see each other as much as they'd like, admitting: "He's much more – how can I say? – self-contained, perhaps, than he used to be.
Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Del Boy (David Jason) dressed as Batman and Robin in Only Fools and Horses (PA)"So, unfortunately, we don’t see each other as much as I would like to. But that’s how things work out sometimes." Last year, David, who tonight appears on The Repair Shop spinoff, David & Jay's Touring Toolshed, put the record straight about the friendship.
During a documentary about the making of the show, he expressed: "You couldn’t have had a better co-partner than Nic. We liked and respected each other so much, we were genuinely good friends." Sir David, who was knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in December 2005 for services to acting and comedy, also became known for his roles in The Darling Buds of May and A Touch of Frost. He also voiced cartoons such as Dangermouse.
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Born in Edmonton, North London, in February 1940, his dad was a Billingsgate market porter and his mum a maid. But while Sir David started out working as an electrician, his love of theatre lured him into acting.
From early on it was clear his talents stood out, and he was quickly snapped up by agents who then encouraged him to move into TV. In the 1980s, he starred alongside Ronnie Barker in classic comedy Open All Hours, when he was offered to read a script for a new series called Only Fools and Horses.
He has said that during their very first read-through, the cast knew immediately "there was magic in the room". The show went on to win six BAFTAs, with two going to Sir David for his portrayal of Del Boy, and 18.8 million viewers tuned in to one episode in 1986. That year, the cast appeared at the Royal Variety Performance, in front of the Queen Mother.
Sir David went on to spend 15 series playing Detective Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost, throughout the 1990s until 2010. He then returned to his role as Granville in 2013, for Still Open All Hours, for another 41 episodes.