Sir David Jason, the beloved actor known for his role as Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, has revealed a moment when he nearly quit the iconic BBC sitcom.
In his autobiography My Life, Jason recounted an incident from the show’s third series where a single line delivered by co-star Lennard Pearce, who played Grandad, elicited an unprecedented reaction from the studio audience.
The laughter was so prolonged and intense that it left Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who portrayed Rodney, struggling to maintain composure.
This unexpected audience response led to Jason jokingly threatening to resign.
The scene in question involved Del Boy and Rodney arguing about Rodney’s business plans to invest £200 in the self-catering holiday trade.
Grandad, played by Lennard Pearce, had been silent throughout the scene until he suddenly quipped, “What you got, Rodney – a Wendy house?”
Jason recalled, “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.”
Following the filming, Sir Jason addressed the audience as he usually did, but this time with a humorous twist.
He recounted, “When we had completed the filming, I stepped forward to say a few words of thanks to the audience, which I always liked to do.
“This time, just to tease Lennard, 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 bl***y word – and then he just says ‘Wendy house’ and he gets the biggest laugh I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”
The “Wendy house” joke led to the creation of an internal laughter ratings system among the cast and crew.
Jason, 84, explained: “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.'”
Despite his iconic status as Del Boy, Jason recently expressed some regrets about being typecast.
In a candid interview on BBC Breakfast, he shared: “My only regret” is that the character of Del Boy seems to overshadow his other work.
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He explained: “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.”
The actor also revealed a long-held ambition that remained unfulfilled.
“My real disappointment or regret, if you like, is I always wanted to be a National Theatre player,” he confessed.
This desire to perform on the prestigious stage with “big, wonderful actors” never materialised, adding a poignant note to his otherwise illustrious career.
