‘Del Boy? To my daughter, I’m just the old man’
He’s been entertaining the masses for nearly half a century. Now, David Jason talks about Only Fools
And Horses, how his character Del Boy was based on a real-life person and why, at 77, he has no plans to retire...
You were very shy at school. What gave you the confidence to act?
I did have low self-esteem as a child. I had no confidence, and didn’t think I would be any good at anything in my life. Then, suddenly, we got a new form teacher called Mr Joy and, because the only thing I was good at was gymnastics, every time we had to climb a rope in the gym, or do a handstand, he’d get me to show the class how to do it. So that gave me confidence. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what would have become of me.
Did you find it hard breaking through as an actor?
Yes, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. I think I just had this idiotic determination to succeed. Every day, I wrote to just about every producer and director in the world to get my first job. They all said no, mainly because I had no training. Nobody would take me seriously in those days.
In your new book, there’s a tremendous amount of detail. How did you remember it all?!
It’s a sort of romantic thing in a way, but I kept every script I’d ever done, every piece of memorabilia from a show, every review – because I thought, one day, I might need them. Then, when I got them out to have a look through, they sort of jogged my memory of what went on during the filming – and, of course, what we got up to backstage, too!
Did you ever think that Only Fools And Horses would become as hugely popular as it did?
That’s difficult, because all of us involved in the show loved it so much. I hoped it would succeed, of course, but the first series had hardly any viewers and we all feared the worst. Luckily, the powers that be stood by it and gave it more time. The next thing we knew, the show had 24 million people tuning in.
Why do you think it was so successful?
I think Only Fools And Horses has become part of the national psyche because, ultimately, it was all about real people behaving in real ways. It wasn’t a sitcom, it was comedy drama. I think a lot of people could relate to Del Boy – Derek Trotter – because he was a dreamer.
I hear you based Derek Trotter on a real-life character. Is that true?
Yes, he was based on a builder called Derek Hockley, who I’d met when I was looking for work as an electrician. He fascinated me so much, because he spoke cockney but was dressed like a lord. So when I was trying to get into the character of Derek Trotter, this image of Derek Hockley kept coming into my mind.