‘Frasier’ star teases ‘Only Fools And Horses’ reunion: “It makes sense”
“He could just walk by and say ‘Dipstick’, couldn’t he?”
by Adam England · NMEFrasier star Kelsey Grammer has teased a possible Only Fools And Horses reunion in an upcoming episode of the sitcom.
Last year, it was announced that Nicholas Lyndhurst, who played Rodney Trotter in Only Fools And Horses, had joined the case of the Paramount+ revival of Frasier, which originally ran on NBC from 1993 to 2004.
He plays Professor Alan Cornwall, an old schoolfriend of titular character Frasier Crane from Oxford University who now teaches psychology at Harvard.
After Lyndhurst’s casting was announced, many Only Fools And Horses fans suggested arranging a reunion with involvement from Sir David Jason – or Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter in the classic BBC sitcom. And speaking to Metro, Grammer didn’t rule out the possibility altogether.
“It makes sense,” he said. “Who knows? I mean, he could just walk by and say ‘Dipstick’, couldn’t he? It might be really fun to have Alan maybe watching it, watching the old show or something?”
He continued, “There’s any number of ways to maybe make that connection, because, of course it is a nostalgic show and Nick has such a huge, huge presence in the UK – with good reason! He’s one of the best actors who ever lived. There’s no question about his abilities and he’s beloved, so we’ll mine that as much as we possibly can.
“He’s remarkable. I and the writers were talking about, ‘Boy, I can’t wait until maybe next season where Frasier doesn’t even have to do anything at all, we’ll just let Nick have the show.’ We’re really looking forward to what that one might be. We’ve set it up well enough to have him take the reins of the A-story in a show pretty soon. We’re working up to that now.”
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The first season of the Frasier revival began airing last October, with the second season beginning this September. Earlier this year, Grammer said that he’d like Cheers stars Ted Danson and Shelley Long to reprise their roles in the Frasier reboot.
They played bartender Sam Malone and waitress Diane Chambers in Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993 and introduced Frasier as a love interest for Diane. Both Danson and Long reprised their roles in guest appearances during Frasier’s original run.
Meanwhile, Grammer’s co-star Toks Olagundoye, who plays Professor Olivia Finch, revealed that she feared being sacked from the show after her breast cancer diagnosis, but was reassured with a personal call from him.
She underwent chemotherapy and surgery weeks before the show started shooting, as well as a double masectomy midway through production. She revealed: “He was very emotional, he didn’t realise what I was going through, and he said, ‘I know how actors think, I want to let you know this is your family, you’re not getting fired, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to make you feel comfortable.’
“I remember him so vividly saying, ‘You’re going to be so happy after this. Everything is going to be okay.’”