Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GLOBE TROTTER
Del Boy star David’s love of stunts and travel at 79
THE only way Del Boy got around was in a clapped-out Reliant Regal, belching smoke from the exhaust.
But now David Jason has gone up in the world, touring the west coast of America by plane, train, helicopter, motorbike and car – and even having a go at stunt driving at the age of 79.
And Sir David found the stunt driving a doddle – but then the car did have four wheels, unlike the Trotters’ three-wheel runaround in Only Fools and Horses.
After a month spent travelling the west coast, from Seattle to LA, for his Trains, Planes & Automobiles series on the heritage of American transport, Sir David said: “One of the things I learned was that I really enjoyed stunt-car driving.
“I didn’t realise they would ask me to do it.
“The producers told me we were going to see this stunt driver on a skid pan, and I thought, ‘That’s interesting.’
“The next thing, they were saying to me, ‘We want you to do it.’ But I coped because I understand vehicles and I like driving.” But one old motor was more of a challenge. He said: “Driving a Model T Ford was extremely difficult.
“The pedals are reversed from the way they are now.
“It’s so crude, but that was the motorcar that started it all. It’s an incredible part of history.”
Daredevil David also had a few heartstopping moments up in the air. He said: “I also loved flying in a helicopter over the Mount St Helens volcano, which is still active.
“That was scary, but exhilarating.” Thanks to his voice-over for another daredevil, cartoon superhero Danger Mouse, Sir David had no problems getting a work permit for his job in America. He said: “When I went to the embassy, what speeded up the process was the fact that two or three people who were processing me learned I had done the voice for Danger Mouse. That was very funny.” He said the people he met along the way on his trip made the series “a very nice advertisement for hard-working Americans”.
He said: “We get the impression through film and TV that Americans are violent gangsters with guns or uppermiddle-class people in romcoms.
“I really liked the people. They were really warm. They could have been Brits. I mean that in the nicest possible way.
“Ninety per cent of the people I met were self-made, like the man who had created the biggest private car collection in the US.
“It’s very nice to meet people who just get on, work hard and don’t have things handed to them. There are a lot of them in the US and there are a lot of them in this country, too.”
David Jason: Planes, Trains & Automobiles, from March 28, 9pm on Gold.