Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
1. David Jason wasn’t the first choice for Del Boy
It’s impossible to imagine anyone else playing the character of Del Boy, but incredibly David Jason wasn’t the first pick for the role.
John Sullivan has originally earmarked Jim Broadbent for the role and he would go on to star in Only Fools as Del Boy’s memorable nemesis DCI Roy Slater.
Enn Reitel was also offered the part, but declined because of other commitments.
2. Only Fools and Horses wasn’t the original title
The show had the working title ‘Readies’ based on the slang word for money. John Sullivan also toyed with the name ‘Big Brother’, which ended up being the title of the first ever episode.
3. The cast got a big shock filming the birth of Damien Trotter
Speaking about the memorable and emotional scenes, Tessa Peake Jones (Raquel) said: “None of us at that stage had ever had a child, nobody on the production - apart from John Sullivan, who wrote it.
“So a very sweet staff nurse suggested I watch it, mainly for me to hear the sounds and effects that would be made while giving birth. But all the lads said ‘Oh we’ll come and watch it’. We’d just had breakfast, and there was Buster, Nick, David and myself, and the director Tony and all the stage crew, and they played this film which was exceedingly graphic of this very brave woman agreeing to let the cameras film her, with the blood and afterbirth and her agony.
“Anyway, at the end of it, Buster turned around to all of us and said ‘I feel really sick now’
4. Trigger’s real name
“How’s it going, Dave.” The show may never have truly gotten to the bottom of the classic Dave/Rodney saga, but we do know the real name of Trigger is Colin Bell. It was never mentioned in the show, but has been spotted in cast listings for the series.
5. We should all thank school teacher Jim Trowers
Jim Sullivan, John’s son, revealed that it was one of his school teachers that we should all thank for his creative and comic genius.
“Jim Trowers made the effort to bring his lessons to life, English was the only subject that had a positive and lasting impact on dad,” he said.
“Rather than just getting the pupils to recite passages of classics like Dickens, Trowers would read the stories aloud himself, playing the characters and taking on their accents.
“After leaving school dad worked a lot of jobs (plumbers mate, window cleaner, delivery driver, a stint in the second-hand car game, to name but a few) and he met many a colourful character along the way, experiences which he used to help build and colour the worlds of his story ideas.
“But he always said that it was Dickens, with the help of Trowers, who ignited his imagination and passion for writing.”
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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