Sir David Jason was left feeling “very sad” after revisiting footage from the height of his Only Fools and Horses fame, according to his former co-star Tessa Peake-Jones.
The 86-year-old, who played the ever-scheming Del Boy in the long-running BBC comedy, reunited with fellow cast members to watch previously unseen clips for U+Gold’s new documentary series, Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive.
Peake-Jones, who starred as Del Boy's wife Raquel, said Jason became emotional as he watched footage capturing him at his “absolute peak”.
She told the Daily Mirror: “You know, he’d just been knighted; he was in every programme going, The Darling Buds of May, all of them.
“And he said, ‘There I am in my prime, and now here I am as an old man sitting watching it.’ I found that really quite moving.”
The 69-year-old actor continued: “He just said, ‘Oh, I’m finding it very sad’, and I said, ‘What do you mean?’
“I ended up becoming his therapist on the sofa and he said, ‘I just look at myself then in my prime as the best I could possibly be’, which of course he was then — in his forties and fifties, he was more famous than anyone in Britain on telly.
“And I knew what he meant when he said he felt sad because this is us looking back on what we were, particularly for him because he was at his absolute peak. It must have felt very peculiar. You’re not ever going to be what you were then.”
Despite his sadness at looking back on the lost clips, Tessa insists that the A Touch of Frost star remains “very vibrant”.
She said: “He’s still a very vibrant man, he's got a lot of energy, he's doing things all the time, but it was just very poignant and quite sobering.”
Only Fools and Horses, which aired on the BBC from 1981 to 2003, remains one of Britain's most popular comedies.
Fans of the show were shown previously unseen footage on Tuesday night’s premiere of the new docuseries, including a scene featuring Raquel Trotter finally broadcast more than three decades after it was filmed.
Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive revealed clips from over 10 classic episodes that never made it to air.
U+Gold also announced Tuesday that the documentary series had been renewed for a two-part second season.
The broadcaster said it “barely scratched the surface” with its first series, while the second run will feature new episodes with cast and crew including Jason, Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong.
Helen Nightingale, UKTV’s head of factual entertainment commissioning, said: “With series one focusing on ten or so much-loved episodes, we have barely scratched the surface of unseen footage from this most beloved of comedy shows.
“Series two promises even more insight into just what it took to create such a fantastic and much-loved series.”
The second two-part series will feature more than 30 clips from episodes including 1996’s “Time On Our Hands”, which saw Del-Boy and Rodney finally become millionaires.
Emma Tibbetts, director of scripted programming, hailed the new archive as “a comedic goldmine”.
She added: “North One has unearthed a comedic goldmine equal to the one Del and Rodney uncover with the antique watch that finally makes them millionaires in the classic Time on Our Hands.
“It’s a pleasure to watch these new scenes and see how Sir David Jason and the cast react to their discovery.”
Newly unveiled scenes in the first two-parter include Raquel’s unseen audition scene from 1991 episode “The Class of ‘62”.
The scene was never broadcast, but at the beginning of the episode she returned home with Del and Rodney, when Uncle Albert asked how the audition went.
Tuesday’s programme showed the scene for the first time, as Raquel auditioned at a nightclub while Del and Rodney watched from the audience.
Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive is available to watch on Sky TV and NOW.
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