Only Fools and Horses: BBC nearly didn’t cast David Jason as they feared offending a comedy legend

For Only Fools and Horses fans now, the idea of Del Boy not being played by David Jason is simply ludicrous.

The actor has become synonymous with the cheeky cockney who was head of the Trotter family and the main character of the sitcom.

But in the early days of production, it seemed genuinely on the cards that the part might not go to David.

This was all because of a huge rivalry the BBC had perceived between David and another actor that never even existed.

Steve Clark, the only writer on set for the filming of Only Fools and Horses , revealed the controversy in his 2011 book ‘ Only Fools and Horses – The Official Inside Story’ .

Steve wrote: “Real resistance to David Jason being cast came from the head of light entertainment, Jimmy Gilbert, and other senior executives.

“For one, they feared casting him in his own series could jeopardise their relationship with Ronnie Barker.

“At that stage, Barker was Britain’s number one TV star and a major asset to BBC Television.

“Both Open All Hours and The Two Ronnies were huge successes for the Corporation and the risk of offending Barker was deemed too great.”

British comedy legend Ronnie Barker is also well known for his starring roles in Porridge and Open All Hours , alongside David Jason.

However, Steve goes on to point out how the producers had got it completely wrong.

He said: “Yet Barker saw David Jason almost as his prodigy and it seems unlikely now that he would have been anything other than delighted that his friend and colleague should gain the recognition he was due by way of his own starring vehicle.”

But this wasn’t the only thing that could have sabotaged David’s chances to play the lead role, according to Steve, who recalled the creative process of the show’s main writer John Sullivan.

He wrote: “There was further reluctance to consider Jason on the basis that he didn’t look at all like Nicholas Lyndhurst, a fact which was actually a key part of John Sullivan’s Trotter mythology.

“For as John Sullivan recalled: ‘The whole point is that Del and Rodney are actually the only ones who think they are brothers.

“Everyone else thinks they might well have different fathers.

“They had to be counterpoints to each other: one tall, one short; one blond; the other dark-haired.

“They had to look different to each other and at one point when we were casting there was even a suggestion that we had one them mixed-race.”