Sir David Jason addresses Nicholas Lyndhurst 'feud' as he reveals truth behind 'huge row'
The actor, best known for his role as Del Boy Trotter on the BBC sitcom, starred alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst in the hit show which ran for seven seasons
Sir David Jason has addressed the truth behind the 'fake news' about a 'feud' between himself and Only Food and Horses co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst.
The Del Boy star appeared in the hit BBC sitcom which won the hearts of British audiences with its portrayal of a working class Peckham family trying to make their fortune.
Writing in his memoir My Life, Sir David addressed, and directly quashed, any notion of a feud with his co-star, as well as revealing what may have caused any rumours.
He said: "With Nick, I feel slightly to blame for some of this fake 'feud' news, because what's often used as supporting evidence in these stories is a tale I told in an earlier volume of these memoirs, about Nick and me having an enormous fight during a location shoot for Only Fools.
"And we did have a huge row that day - a truly spectacular one. The kind of all-out, shouting, swearing, object-throwing barney that relationships often don't come back from."
"The only thing being, it was a play-fight - a wind-up, a practical joke we played on the rest of the cast and crew. It was raining, the cameras hadn't turned over all morning - it was one of those frustrating days. Nick and I had already exhausted the wide variety of entertainment opportunities available to us at such times - which is to say, we'd read the papers and then we'd used those papers to have a paper-plane-building competition and seen who could fly their plane the furthest. We were bored stiff, frankly, and the devil famously makes work for idle actors."
Sir David went on to recount how the pair were sat in the 'deluxe trailer' the BBC provided for them - which was in fact a 'small caravan with grubby soft furnishings'.
To entertain themselves, the actors decided to 'stage a flaming row' in a bid to 'convince everyone on set we'd had a massive falling out'.
Members of the crew tried to intervene after the pair's mock row, to see if they could diffuse the tension. But Sir David said "Nick and I sullenly refused their diplomacy".
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He continued: "Eventually somebody went off and summoned the producer to come and see if he could work his personal magic, at which point Nick and I realised we had probably pushed it as far as we could."
Offering further insight into his off-screen banter with Only Fools co-star Nick, Sir David shared another anecdote in his memoir about the day the pair jokingly threatened to quit the show.
Sir David recounted the moment the audience's reaction to a line in the show nearly prompted him to hang up his flat cap.
He said: "There's a moment in series three of Only Fools and Horses where Del and Rodney are squabbling about the viability of Rodney's plans to go it alone in business and invest his £200 of start-up capital in the self-catering holiday trade.
"Lennard [Pearce] as Grandad, has had almost no lines in this scene - he's just been a silent presence in his armchair in the sitting room. But now, at the mention of Rodney's proposed £200 holiday property investment, he suddenly pipes up and says, 'What you got, Rodney - a Wendy house?'
"It's hard, even now, to summon words that adequately account for the volume of the laughter this line got from the studio audience. The laugh went on so long, it threatened to run into the next episode - and all Nick and I could do was stand there and ride it, while trying not to join in.
"When we had completed the filming, I stepped forward to say a few words of thanks to the audience, which I always liked to do. This time, just to tease Lennard, I said, 'That's it. I'm resigning. Nick Lyndhurst and myself have worked our socks off all evening for this show. Lennard Pearce hasn't said a bloody word - and then he just says 'Wendy house' and he gets the biggest laugh I've ever heard in my entire life'."
Sir David went on to reveal that this on-set incident led to the creation of a 'laughter ratings system' among the cast and crew working on the show, which would be used to judge the quality of any jokes.
He added: "Laughs would be ranked according to their perceived Wendy-ness. A decent line might be scored as a 'mini-Wendy'. A good line would get a 'sub-Wendy'. What you were hoping for, of course, was an 'all-out Wendy' or a 'full-blown Wendy'. The 'full-blown Wendy' was the holy grail."
Sir David recently opened up about the "ghost" of Derek Trotter that seems to follow him, during a candid chat on BBC Breakfast with host Jon Kay. The legendary actor spoke about how the character has overshadowed his other work.
Reflecting on his career, Sir David shared: "My only regret" when it comes to Only Fools and Horses is that he feels haunted by the character, much like A Christmas Carol.
The actor expressed a slight frustration that despite his varied career, most people remember him solely for his portrayal of Derek Trotter: "Which only hangs me back, only upsets me slightly is because that seems to be the only thing that people remember me for.
"I'm delighted in one way that it's reached so many people and they've enjoyed what I've done with the character, but I've done so many other things that everybody seems to have forgotten about. It's like I've only ever played Derek Trotter."
The star lamented: "My real disappointment or regret, if you like, is I always wanted to be a National Theatre player. I always wanted to be on the stage of the national theatre. It was just that romantic image of playing those big productions with all those big, wonderful actors. That never happened."
