Sir David Jason shares truth behind 'explosive' Only Fools row with Nicholas Lyndhurst

Sir David Jason has opened up about his 'feud' with Only Fools and Horses co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst and the time he had a 'truly explosive' row with him on set

Sir David Jason has set the record straight regarding the rumoured 'feud' with Nicholas Lyndhurst, his co-star from the much-loved BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

In "My Life", his autobiography, the actor who brought the iconic Del Boy to life debunked claims of a rift with Lyndhurst. He suggested that misconceptions may stem from an anecdote he shared in a previous memoir, which involved an intense on-set argument.

Jason revealed: "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."

The esteemed actor laid bare details of the incident, stating, "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."

"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. 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."

Sir David recounted how they were lounging in the 'deluxe trailer' supplied by the BBC, which in reality was a 'small caravan with grubby soft furnishings'.

The actors concocted a plan to 'stage a flaming row' to give the impression that they'd had a significant fall-out to everyone on set, for their own amusement.

When crew members came to break up the feigned altercation, hoping to defuse the situation, Sir David remarked that "Nick and I sullenly refused their diplomacy".

He went on to say: "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."

To offer more insight into their off-camera pranks, Sir David regaled another incident from his autobiography where he and Only Fools co-star Nick whimsically threatened to leave the beloved show.

Sir David reminisced about a hilarious incident on the Only Fools and Horses set that almost prompted him to consider retirement in jest.

He shared: "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."

"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? '".

"It's hard, even now, to summon words that adequately account for the volume of the laughter this line got from the studio audience. The laugh went on so long, it threatened to run into the next episode - and all Nick and I could do was stand there and ride it, while trying not to join in."

"When we had finished filming, I stepped forward to thank the audience, which was something I always enjoyed doing. On this occasion, I decided to have a bit of fun with Lennard. 'That's it,' I said. 'I'm resigning. Nick Lyndhurst and I have worked tirelessly all night, and Lennard Pearce hasn't uttered a word then he goes and says 'Wendy house' and gets the biggest laugh I've ever heard in my entire life."

Sir David revealed that a quirky incident on set led to the development of a 'laughter ratings system' amidst the crew, which became a running gag as they assessed the comedic value of their scenes.

Explaining further, he said: "Laughs would be ranked according to their perceived Wendy-ness. A decent line might be scored as a 'mini-Wendy'. A good line would get a 'sub-Wendy'. What you were hoping for, of course, was an 'all-out Wendy' or a 'full-blown Wendy'. The 'full-blown Wendy' was the holy grail."

While appearing on BBC Breakfast and chatting with host Jon Kay, Sir David opened up about the indelible impression left by his character Derek Trotter, acknowledging it tends to overshadow his other work.

He reflected upon his time portraying Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and shared: "My only regret" is feeling haunted by that role, likening it to the ghostly presences in A Christmas Carol.

In spite of his varied roles, Sir David expressed some frustration that he remains predominantly known for Derek Trotter: "Which only hangs me back, only upsets me slightly is because that seems to be the only thing that people remember me for."

He communicated mixed feelings about his association with the iconic role, appreciating its impact yet lamenting being typecast: "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."

The celebrity voiced his profound disappointment, stating, "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."