Sir David Jason reportedly almost quit Only Fools And Horses during its prime.
The actor, 84, portrayed Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter on the beloved BBC sitcom which ran from 1981 to 1991 followed by several Christmas specials that ended in 2003.
According to The Sun, there was almost an entirely different ending for David’s character when the actor was considering quitting the show back in 1986.
As the actor contemplated leaving, head writer John Sullivan wrote a potential final episode called Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
The episode did air that year but it almost had a very different ending. It saw a character named Jumbo Mills arrive in Peckham after supposedly making a fortune while living in .
The initial idea was that Jumbo would cross paths with Del and tempt him to return to with him to make his fortune there.
Sir David Jason (centre) reportedly almost quit Only Fools And Horses during its prime (pictured with Nicholas Lyndhurst and Lennard Pearce)
The actor, 84, portrayed Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter on the beloved BBC sitcom which ran from 1981 to 1991 followed by several Christmas specials (pictured in December 2024)
This would have given David the opportunity to make a clean break from the show while setting up for the series to carry on without him.
Producers were reportedly contemplating making Nicholas Lyndhurst the star of a new version of the show called Hot Rod, centred around his character Rodney.
While the fate of Only Fools And Horses hung in the balance, David ultimately changed his mind and decided to stay with the series.
The episode aired with Del rejecting Jumbo Mils’ offer to go to .
David previously told how he feels the ‘ghost’ of Del is following him and feels the character hangs over him.
He said: ‘That Derek Trotter thing, he’s a bit of a ghost that comes along behind me like A Christmas Carol.’
The star expressed frustration that despite a decades-long career in film and television he is most know for playing Del Boy.
He said the character ‘only hangs me back, only upsets me slightly is because that seems to be the only thing that people remember me for.’
There was almost an entirely different ending for David’s character when the actor was considering quitting the show back in 1986
While the fate of Only Fools And Horses hung in the balance, David ultimately changed his mind and decided to stay with the series
‘I’m delighted in one way that it’s reached so many people and they’ve enjoyed what I’ve done with the character, but I’ve done so many other things that everybody seems to have forgotten about. It’s like I’ve only ever played Derek Trotter.’
David revealed that while he isn’t disappointed with his career, there are still so many goals he hasn’t achieved and put that down to being followed by the ghost of his most iconic character.
The star explained: ‘My real disappointment or regret, if you like, is I always wanted to be a National Theatre player.
‘I always wanted to be on the stage of the National Theatre. It was just that romantic image of playing those big productions with all those big, wonderful actors. That never happened.’
When host Jon suggested he still had time to realise his dream of taking to the stage, Jason replied that his time may have run out, explaining that his memory is not what it was.
He said: ‘Well you wonder whether the old memory would be quite good enough. I could do it with the autocue things.’
David previously told how he feels the ‘ghost’ of Del is following him and feels the character hangs over him
But seeming to shake off his melancholy mood, he then playfully turned to the camera and said: ‘Hey! Yes, National Theatre, I’m available!’
His admission comes after the star revealed he would take up his famous role again.
At the start of the year David said he would be happy to take on the role of Del Boy again but added that a reboot would be unlikely after the main writer of the hit TV series, John Sullivan, tragically passed away in 2011.
He told The Sun of a potential reboot: ‘Well, to be honest with you, we would like that to happen very much because not only did we enjoy it so much, but so did most of the British public. Because of that, we would love to do it.
But he added: ‘I don’t think we could do another episode of Only Fools And Horses because the brains behind it, Mr John Sullivan, is unfortunately no longer with us.’