David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were beloved stars on Only Fools (Image: BBC)
has spoken out about the supposed ‘feud’ with Nicholas Lyndhurst, as mentioned in his autobiography “My Life”. The actor, renowned for his portrayal of Del Boy, hinted that the rumoured bad blood might be linked to a story he shared in a previous book.
Sir David recounted: “With Nick, I feel slightly to blame for some of this fake ‘feud’ news, because what’s often used as supporting evidence in these stories is a tale I told in an earlier volume of these memoirs, about Nick and me having an enormous fight during a location shoot for Only Fools.”
He further elaborated: “And we did have a huge row that day – a truly spectacular one. The kind of all-out, shouting, swearing, object-throwing barney that relationships often don’t come back from.”
Yet, Sir David disclosed the reality of the situation: “The only thing being, it was a play-fight – a wind-up, a practical joke we played on the rest of the cast and crew. It was raining, the cameras hadn’t turned over all morning – it was one of those frustrating days.”
Additionally, Sir David offered a glimpse into their on-set antics: “Nick and I had already exhausted the wide variety of entertainment opportunities available to us at such times – which is to say, we’d read the papers and then we’d used those papers to have a paper-plane-building competition and seen who could fly their plane the furthest. We were bored stiff, frankly, and the devil famously makes work for idle actors.”, reports .
Only Fools and Horses David and Nicholas had a “feud” (Image: -)
Sir David fondly remembered the moment he sat in what the called a ‘deluxe trailer’ during filming, which turned out to be nothing more than a ‘small caravan with grubby soft furnishings’. To add some spice to their downtime, he and a colleague decided to ‘stage a flaming row’, tricking others into thinking they were in a serious tiff, as per Coventry Live’s account.
Crew members scrambled to calm the feigned clash, but Sir David remarked “Nick and I sullenly refused their diplomacy”. He confessed: “Eventually somebody went off and summoned the producer to come and see if he could work his personal magic, at which point Nick and I realised we had probably pushed it as far as we could.”
In addition, Sir David revealed another cheeky anecdote from his memoir, recounting the time he and his co-star playfully hinted at quitting the beloved show.
Describing a memorable onset experience, Sir David shared how audience reactions during an episode almost made him consider saying farewell to his iconic role. He noted: “There’s a moment in series three of Only Fools and Horses where Del and Rodney are squabbling about the viability of Rodney’s plans to go it alone in business and invest his £200 of start-up capital in the self-catering holiday trade.”
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He continued: “Lennard [Pearce] as Grandad, has had almost no lines in this scene – he’s just been a silent presence in his armchair in the sitting room. But now, at the mention of Rodney’s proposed £200 holiday property investment, he suddenly pipes up and says, ‘What you got, Rodney – a Wendy house? ‘” Sir David noted that the laughter was “so long, it threatened to run into the next episode”. After filming, he took the opportunity to tease Lennard when addressing the audience.
He recalled: “I said, ‘That’s it. I’m resigning. Nick Lyndhurst and myself have worked our socks off all evening for this show. Lennard Pearce hasn’t said a bloody word – and then he just says ‘Wendy house’ and he gets the biggest laugh I’ve ever heard in my entire life’.”