Only Fools and Horses

The Only Fools and Horses star who ‘never laughed’ according to fellow actor

To keep a deadpan expression on a show like that takes some doing!

To be an actor on Only Fools and Horses you have to have an excellent ability to not crack up in front of the camera every time a joke gets blurted out.

That’s no easy feat.

Even the great David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst crack up off-screen in the bloopers we don’t see.

Though there is one fellow star who apparently never laughed, according to Raquel, played by Tessa Peake-Jones.

Have you ever seen him laugh on the show? (Image: BBC/PA Wire)

The late great Roger Lloyd-Pack, who played Trigger, supposedly never broke into hysterics on the show even when others around him were.

In ‘The Story of Only Fools and Horses’, a documentary that aired on UKTV Gold, a few actors reminisce about scenes from the show over the years.

Cassandra and Raquel are both sat on a couple of old armchairs in the Nelson Mandela flat when Tessa says: “The Nag’s Head I remember being a little bit dodgy and you sensed at any point any of the actors might find something funny.

“Once one went the whole lot went.”

Clips of Del and Rodney cracking up in the bloopers are there for all to see.

Rodney mispronounces ‘Cassie’ and the pair begin to laugh while Boycie (John Challis) grins in the background.

Tessa adds: “The only person I don’t remember ever ever seeing laugh was Roger Lloyd-Pack.”

Trigger was a character unsurpassed in what he represented.

Dim-witted but ever so loyal, Trigger the road sweeper was a memorable character who maintained the same expression throughout the show.

It was one of dumbfoundedness and when the others made a joke he’d ‘laugh’ a few moments later.

Roger Lloyd-Pack in The Old Guys

In the bloopers we see Roger steadying himself before a scene and there is a moment where he looks like he’ll break into a smile – but squints his eyes, licks his lips and gets into character sharpish.

To Rodney, Trigger says: “Problems Dave?” to which Nicholas cannot help but burst out laughing.

Some of Roger’s best moments on the show include the famous bar scene where Del falls over and questioning Rodney if Dave isn’t his real name.

Roger would also appear in The Vicar of Dibley, The Old Guys and Harry Potter as Barty Crouch, a role very different from the clueless Trigger.

Roger sadly passed away in 2014 from pancreatic cancer but will always be remembered as an icon of British television.

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