Only Fools and Horses

Only Fools and Horses: The Rodney Trotter insult that made David Jason ‘feel warm inside’

The iconic actor was impressed with one particular gag when reading the script for the first episode of the BBC sitcom, before he even landed the Del Boy role

Sir David Jason has revealed the Rodney Trotter insult that attracted him to Only Fools and Horses before he was given the part of Del Boy Trotter.

The 82-year-old first arrived on TV screens as dodgy dealer Del on September 8, 1981, when the sitcom created by John Sullivan launched on the BBC and debuted the first episode titled Big Brother.

Although Sir David was already an established actor with roles in popular TV series including Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Porridge, and Open All Hours, at 40 years old he landed the part of Del Boy and soon become of Britain’s most-loved TV stars.

Lennard Pearce, David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst during the earlier days of Only Fools and Horses (Image: BBC)

During his book ‘A Del of a Life’, David recalls his first encounter with Only Fools when he read the script from episode one and got a ‘warm’ feeling from a hilarious exchange with on-screen brother Rodney, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Explaining the moment he took out the script for Readies, which was the original name for the sitcom, David writes: “I start reading, and straight away I get a good feeling about what I am seeing. The hurling of insults between characters is, of course, a sitcom staple but the insults between these particular characters seem to have a different class of cut and thrust about them.

“I start to feel that certain twitch that you get when you first read a punchy script and realise that you would get a lot of fun out of delivering its lines.”

He continues: “I am particularly drawn to the exchange that the character called Del has with his much younger brother, Rodney, in which Del says: “For the first time three months of the pregnancy, you were treated as an ulcer. And to this day I can sometimes think the original diagnosis was correct’, I can imagine doing a job on that line.”

Sir David Jason as Del Boy Trotter in Only Fools and Horses
Sir David Jason as Derek Trotter in Only Fools and Horses (Image: BBC)

David goes on to talk about how he loved the relationship between Rodney, Del, and Grandad, and enjoyed the interactions between three generations including, someone younger, middle age, and older.

He adds: “That sense of immediate familiarity and the warmth that follows from it is by no means a common thing in a pilot script.”

Only Fools and Horses has become a national treasure with a fan base spanning generations. Sir David Jason played the role of hooky deal Del Boy Trotter from 1981 until the last episode aired in 2003.

*A Del of a Life – Lessons I’ve Learned by David Jason is available to buy now

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