Only Fools and Horses: Del Boy was ‘biggest headache’ for BBC production

The 82-year-old portrayed market trader Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter on the BBC comedy for a decade, appearing as the character again in multiple specials until 2003. The sitcom, set in Peckham, followed Del Boy and his younger brother Rodney Trotter (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) and their attempts to get rich. While the role made Sir David a household name, he was not the first choice to play Del Boy.

The first choice to play the lead character in Only Fools and Horses was the actor Enn Reitel, however, he was unable to portray Del Boy as he was tied up in other work commitments.

The next actor to be approached by producers was future Academy Award-winning star Jim Broadbent, who also turned down the role.

Only Fools and Horses was all ready to go ahead, but with no confirmed Del Boy, producers were starting to get a “headache”.

In Only Fools and Horses – The Official Inside Story, which takes fans of the show behind the scenes, author Steve Clark delved into the difficulties of casting Del Boy.

Only Fools and Horses: David Jason was not the first choice to play Del Boy (Image: BBC/GETTY)

Only Fools and Horses: David Jason went on to play Del Boy for over a decade (Image: BBC)

An extract from the book said casting Del Boy “proved to be the biggest headache”. 

Only Fools and Horses producer Ray Butt said: “I thought Enn Reitel was right for the original character of Del as written.

“He was physically very different to David Jason though and much taller.

“I thought casting Enn would appease Jimmy Gilbert, the BBC’s Head of Light Entertainment, because he looked more like Nick Lyndhurst.” 

Only Fools and Horses: Del Boy became an iconic character which rose Sir David into national fame (Image: BBC)

Only Fools and Horses: Jim Broadbent turned down the role of Del Boy (Image: GETTY )

Ray approached Enn’s agent only to discover he was busy filming a series for Yorkshire Television called Misfits and would not be available for Only Fools and Horses. 

The book read: “Enn went on to find fame in the BBC series The adventures of Lucky Jim and the ITV series Mog, but his versatility with voices has been his fortune. 

“He provided many of the voices for Spitting Image, including Lester Piggott, Dustin Hoffman and Donald Sinden and is now one of Britain’s top voice-over artists. 

“John Howard Davies then suggested to Ray that he went to see another actor, Jim Broadbent, who was appearing in Mike Leigh’s play Goosepimples in north London.” 

The book stated he was “very good” and afterwards they had a drink and Ray offered him the part. 

However, Ray said: “He turned it down because the play was transferring to the West End. 

“He didn’t think he could split energies between the West End and doing a new sitcom series.” 

Jim, now 72, discussed how he was offered the role of Del Boy to The Sunday Post.

He said: “I didn’t feel that it was quite right for me. I was probably too tall for a start and the Jack the Lad character was not quite my style. 

“As it turned out David Jason was perfect and he played Del Boy far better than I could have done.”

The actor went on to appear in Only Fools and Horses as bent copper Roy Slater. 

Jim has starred in blockbusters including, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Gangs of New York and The Iron Lady.