David Jason and Tessa Peake-Jones, who played onscreen couple Del Boy and Raquel Turner. (Image: Don Smith/Radio Times/Getty Images)
The actress who played Raquel in , Tessa Peake-Jones, was romantically involved with her on-screen son for nearly three decades.
Tessa Peake-Jones, now 64, first graced our screens as Raquel Turner in the beloved sitcom back in 1988.
Initially appearing in the ‘Dates’ special as a potential partner for main character Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter (), she was initially intended to be a one-off guest star.
However, the undeniable spark between the two led to her return as a regular character, according to the Mirror.
Despite their relationship’s ups and downs, the pair remained a central love story in the series, with Raquel eventually giving birth to Del Boy’s son, Damien, reports .
Douglas Hodge and Tessa Peake-Jones were together until 2013. (Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
While various actors portrayed Damien as a baby, actor Ben Smith took on the role during his teenage years.
In a memorable scene from the iconic episode ‘Heroes and Villains’ (the Batman and Robin episode), Damien’s uncle Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) dreams of a dystopian future where an adult Damien, played by Douglas Hodge, dominates the Western world.
This unforgettable sequence sees Damien coercing President Keanu Reeves into declaring war on China, believing that war is beneficial, while ruling over Trotters Independent Traders with an iron fist.
Hodge, now 61, is renowned for his extensive theatre career, as well as roles in series like ‘The Night Manager’, ‘Black Mirror’, and ‘Penny Dreadful’.
He has also featured in films such as ‘Red Sparrow’, ‘The Report’, ‘Joker’, and ‘The Devil All The Time’.
Tessa Peake-Jones has two children with ex-partner Douglas Hodge. (Image: Trinity Mirror)
Douglas Hodge as an adult Damien in the episode Heroes and Villains. (Image: BBC)
Interestingly, Douglas was once the partner of Tessa Peake-Jones, with their relationship spanning over 25 years. The duo share two children: a son named Charlie and a daughter, Mollie Rose.
However, the couple parted ways in 2013.
While Douglas only made a single appearance in the 1996’s Heroes and Villains special, Tessa remained with the sitcom until its final episode, Time on Our Hands, in 1996.
She then reprised her role for the revival specials from 2001, making her last appearance as Raquel in the 2003 special Sleepless in Peckham.
The concluding episode saw the Trotter siblings discover that their late Uncle Albert had left them each £145,000, having wisely invested the previously found Trotter fortune.