British TV icon David Jason reveals why he almost didn't get cast as Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

Sir David Jason has for decades been a jewel in the British TV crown, entertaining audiences in shows from Only Fools and Horses and The Darling Buds of May to Porterhouse Blue and A Touch of Frost.

From 1976 for nine years he also played Granville opposite Ronnie Barker’s Arkwright in Open All Hours, before returning for the 2013 reboot Still Open All Hours. Now he’s reunited with his grocer’s overalls in a final outing for the feature-length retrospective, Open All Hours: Inside Out.

Taking you back to when you first signed up to play Granville 50 years ago, what drew you to the role?

Two words: Ronnie Barker. I’d worked with him three or four times previously, including in one of his great showcases, Porridge, and I was a great fan of his. I wanted to just work in his shadow, really.

What made him so special?

He was such a master at the craft of comedy, and I hoped that if I worked with him, something might rub off, you never know. The one thing I enjoyed more than his huge ability was his humility, because he knew you don’t get good comedy from just acting.

You need the help and confidence of everyone around you, like wardrobe, make-up, props people, scene shifters. Everybody is an important part of delivering what comes out of the television. If you can get that joy of working, of communicating with your fellow workmen, you’re halfway there. Then it’s not like work, it’s like getting paid for nothing.

Who inspired Granville?

That all came from our writer Roy Clarke. The writer is always the unsung hero of any series – they bring the foundations of the house that you can build on. With Granville, he created this grown-up man who was really a vulnerable lad who missed his mother. That, with the humour, became sweetness.

How did it feel coming back in 2013 and putting on your great mentor’s overalls, with Granville now in charge?

I’d always wondered what happened to Granville after Arkwright had left the shop, so that’s how the journey started. The first show is when it hit me: the boy had become the man.

After Open All Hours came an even bigger comedy hit, Only Fools and Horses. Why do you think that sitcom was so successful?

Basically, it’s about family. Not only was the writing brilliant, it had a classic structure of three people sharing a home. You have the governor/father figure, Derek Trotter, then Rodney the lad, plus the paternal figure in Grandad and then Uncle Albert. When we read the first script, we were all very excited because it was so funny and clever.

I said, “The secret is, this isn’t a sitcom, it’s a situation drama. It’s the journey of these people living together. It just so happens that the characters do or say things to make us laugh. But it’s not joke-telling.”

Did you ever change a line?

Constantly. I’d spent many years doing comedy, theatrical farces, pantomimes and summer seasons, so I brought all that knowledge to the shows I did. For example, one day we were rehearsing and I asked the director, “Can Derek and Rodney go into the kitchen?” We’d never used it before. Then we had Albert coming in and making a sandwich, which led to a great joke nobody had thought of.

You also played Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, making a uniquely successful run of shows. What is the magic ingredient that you were able to bring?

I just think, whatever show I was working on, that stimulated other people to say, “We could do with him in ours.” Except John Sullivan, the writer of Only Fools, originally said, “Oh, we don’t want him. He always plays a loser,” because he’d seen me as little dreamy Granville. In his mind, I couldn’t possibly play a clever, witty hustler, but the director convinced him to at least meet me.

As well as comedy, you’ve played serious roles including Skullion in Porterhouse Blue and DI Jack Frost. Same body, different muscles?

My approach has always been through the character, finding what it is that makes them tick. Lots of military men became university gatekeepers like Skullion, so that inspired his attitude, efficient and clipped. Frost became a detective at a time the minimum height was 5ft 8in, and I’m two inches shorter, so I had him always trying to carry himself to be taller than he was. Those kind of elements have always stuck with me.

You’ve given a lot of laughs over the years, but what makes you laugh?

Really, it’s old-fashioned, often physical comedy like Laurel and Hardy, where you have the knowing fool and the unknowing fool. When you put those two together, that magic just happens.

You could be describing Derek and Rodney, or Arkwright and Granville...

Ah, yes, of course! That, plus you must have warmth for your characters. I have to love them, in order to get the audience to enjoy them as much as I do.

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Open All Hours: Inside Out is on U&Gold on Thursday 7 May at 8pm

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