Tessa Peake-Jones, who played Raquel in the classic BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, has revealed that the cast were plagued by nerves backstage during filming. Speaking ahead of the show's 45th anniversary, the 68-year-old actress admitted that the scripts were 'not that funny anymore' by the time of recording because all the jokes had been exhausted in rehearsals.
Peake-Jones, who starred alongside Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, said the cast were focused on 'getting it right' during production. 'If people had seen us backstage before the show, they'd have seen people pacing up and down the corridors with nerves, including David and Nick,' she told The Sun. 'We cared so much, and we wanted to get it right, but one slip-up of a word could ruin that laugh.'
The actress has reunited with co-stars Gwyneth Strong and Sue Holderness for the U&Gold documentary Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, which features previously unseen footage unearthed from the BBC archives. The documentary includes cut scenes and bloopers, which the cast watched together on camera.
Peake-Jones also appeared on ITV's Lorraine, where she described Sir David Jason's reaction as 'quite depressing'. She said: 'There was one bit he watched and he said "Oh we were so young and successful back then," so it was quite depressing. But I know what he meant, seeing yourself decades ago, it was peculiar.'
Sir David, 85, said of the documentary: 'The love for Only Fools has never faded. It's incredible to see how many people still hold it close to their hearts. Revisiting these rediscovered moments reminded me just how special the show was - and still is.' Series producer Sean Doherty added that the archive has uncovered 66 unseen clips and nearly 100 assets from rushes and location filming.
