Only Fools and Horses

The one Only Fools and Horses moment which kept star Sir David Jason laughing during lockdown

Only Fools legend Sir David Jason managed to keep smiling as the country was plunged into lockdown - thanks to one of classic comedy's funniest moments

Sir David Jason gave up on writing a diary to keep him entertained during lockdown and instead flicked on the telly to watch himself as Del Boy on Only Fools and Horses.

We all struggled with boredom during lockdown, trying new things or learning something new.

For the actor who played Del Boy it was keeping a diary at first – but he realised all he was writing about was being fed up and bored.

Sir David first appeared as Derek Edward Trotter, better known as Del Boy, in 1981 but for the first time in his career said his “gravest fears” came true – the acting work dried up.

Only Fools and Horses
Lovely Jubbly! (Image: BBC)

Stuck inside with no work and nothing to do, he did something he normally tried to avoid for fears of bringing back too happy memories.

He watched himself in the BBC sitcom.

The show kept many of us entertained while being trapped inside so why not try it himself?

The reason he usually steers clear of watching the show it because he says he finds dwelling too long on the most enjoyable time of his life makes him just wish he could do it all over again.

“Making Only Fools was fun, love and joy, and you think ‘Why aren’t I doing it now?’… I try not to get myself involved in an emotional crisis like that,” he explains.

But under unusually boring circumstances he found himself watching the 1989 episode when Del falls through a wine bar hatch.

And it had him in stitches.

He says: “It gave me great joy. The hatch scene still makes me laugh out loud. Normally I’m very critical of what I do, I don’t enjoy watching very much. But that one just works.”

The 80-year-old’s usual resistance to dwelling on the past means “I do tend to live in the moment”, he explains.

Only Fools and Horses
Del Boy falls through the bar hatch as he tries chatting to a girl

His trick is to keep busy, be that with work or doing DIY at his Buckinghamshire home, where he lives with wife Gill and daughter Sophie, 20.

Luckily he managed to lift himself out of his lockdown rut himself, by watching…himself.

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