Only Fools and Horses legend Sir David Jason, 86, has opened up about the physical realities of ageing during a rare interview on BBC Radio Leeds. The actor, known for playing Del Boy, admitted to presenter Gayle Lofthouse that there are things he simply "can't do" anymore.
Promoting live shows
Sir David was promoting his upcoming live performances, An Evening with Sir David Jason, which begins in September 2026 and continues into next year. Gayle asked whether he could recall some of his most memorable Only Fools and Horses scenes, such as the infamous bar fall, or if he had "just seen them so many times on the telly."
Sir David responded: "What fascinated John was he knew I could do all that, 'I did that on purpose' sort of thing. I said to him: 'No, I want to fall through the bar. I will fall.'"
Behind the scenes of the bar fall
He added: "He said: 'No, I didn't see that'. And I said: 'If you're going to write it up you've got to let me fall through the bar'. The reason for that I will explain on the night if you come and see the show. I'm not going to give you that on the radio!"
Sir David explained that his theatre background helped him perfect the stunt: "But the point being I had spent so much time in the past in the theatre, working with an audience. I learnt from the audience what all the tricks are that make that fall work, and make it funny and amusing for the audience."
Ageing admission
He added: "Of course what that does to me is it jogs a piece of memory and makes me think, 'Yeah, I remember, I used to do that 10 times a week in the summer season at Weston-Super-Mare'. Those days are no longer!"
When Gayle asked, "I was going to say, how did that impact on the old body over time?!" Sir David replied: "You're absolutely right, I couldn't do it nowadays! But I'm not going to tell you that! Come and see the show."
