David Jason has revealed that he almost ended up playing Grandad instead of Del Boy in the iconic sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The actor made the disclosure during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday.
Jason, who was promoting a new book, told presenters Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt that when he first met the show's director and writer John Sullivan, they assumed he was auditioning for the role of Grandad. This was because he had previously played elderly characters such as Blanco in Porridge and a 100-year-old gardener in Hark at Barker.
However, Jason insisted on reading for the part of Del Boy, the wheeler-dealer market trader that would become one of television's most beloved characters. 'When I said no, I wanted to read Del Boy, that's the part, that is the part that I want,' he recalled. 'And so they said, well go on see if you can read that and the rest I suppose is history.'
The role of Grandad was eventually played by Lennard Pearce, who died in 1984. Only Fools and Horses first aired in 1981 and ran for three decades, including seven series and numerous specials, with the final episode broadcast on Christmas Day 2003.
