Sir David Jason, 85, has opened up about the BBC’s decision to withdraw a job offer in one of Britain’s biggest shows from right under his nose at the final hour.
While he’s now beloved for his portrayals of Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and Granville in Open All Hours, Sir David once set his sights on the timeless British sitcom Dad’s Army as a budding actor in the 1960s.
The Bafta-winning wartime comedy made household names of its stars, with the catchphrases of Arthur Lowe’s Captain Mainwaring and Clive Dunn’s Lance Corporal Jones still ringing loud in fans’ memories to this day.
But the show’s makeup was almost very different as Sir David was initially offered the role of Clive’s character before the late actor was given the opportunity to sign on.
Sir David explained all when speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Paul Coyte in the first episode of their all-new podcast, Things We Like, which GBNews.com exclusively heard ahead of its release on May 8.
“You were gonna be in Dad’s Army, am I right? You were gonna be the original Corporal Jones,” Paul put to Sir David during the chat, much to Eamonn’s surprise: “Get out of here! Seriously?”
“That’s right… This is a true story,” Sir David began as Paul and Eamonn listened intently. “It’s one of those strange stories that happened in the business.
“I was called to the BBC as hundreds of actors are all the time, constantly turned over. I was asked through my agent, who put me up for that part of Corporal Jones, to meet the producer and the director at the BBC, which I duly did.
“He asked me to read Corporal Jones. They told me he was 50 or 60 years old, and I was about 30 or whatever it was, so I adopted this voice… ‘You don’t like it up ’em!'” he said while donning his best impression.
As Paul and Eamonn chuckled, Sir David delved further: “So I did all that and they were so impressed… they said, ‘You’ve got the job! Would you like to do it?’ I thought, ‘Would I like to do it? It’s a role on television… yes!’
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“They got in touch with my agent and had a little chat, and that was at about 11am. I went home and then at about 2-3pm, the phone rang and my agent said, ‘I’m so sorry…'”
“You’re kidding me!” Paul chimed in in disbelief before Sir David explained how one BBC boss’s desire to have Clive Dunn in the role poured cold water on the job offer.
Sir David explained: “(My agent) said, ‘You haven’t got the job.’ I said, ‘What! I just went for an audition and he said I’d got the job.’ He said, ‘Yes, but the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ What had happened was that Bill Cotton [BBC Head of Entertainment] had had a word with Clive. He’d then told him, ‘We’ve got a job for you after you’ve finished with Spike Milligan.'”
However, Clive went on to turn down the Dad’s Army role due to the fact that he was planning on filming another series of The World of Beachcomber with the aforementioned Spike.
“What they didn’t know was that in the wheels of motion at the BBC, they’d cancelled the next series with Spike Milligan,” Sir David explained.
However, the BBC’s Head of Entertainment spotted the opportunity to use the cancellation to get Clive back on board with Dad’s Army.
“(Bill) said (to Clive), ‘Oh, that’s alright, never mind, I’ve got a lovely part for you!’
“He then went and saw the producers, who said they’d already cast (the role), and Bill Cotton said, ‘With who? Who’s David Jason? You don’t know him, but we know Clive Dunn, and I’ve promised the show to go to Clive Dunn, and I can’t be embarrassed. You wanted him and now you’ve got him!'”
The U-turn by the Beeb – a “sliding doors” moment as Paul put it – didn’t hinder Sir David’s career, however, as a collaboration with Only Fools writer John Sullivan would rear its head a little over a decade later.
Sir David also enjoyed memorable joint projects with Ronnie Barker following his Dad’s Army rejection, with the actor making the role of Granville in Open All Hours well and truly his own.
The 85-year-old’s CV also boasts roles in Lucky Feller, Porridge, and Hark at Barker, all of which he bagged in the time between his Dad’s Army audition and Only Fools stint.
Elsewhere in the inaugural episode of Paul and Eamonn’s podcast, Sir David also opened up about his fondness for rockets and his honest opinion on the iconic Only Fools and Horses theme music.
He also revealed why he holds such a love for people, although he admitted he’s dealt with his fair share of “pains in the tuchus” in the industry over the years.
The discussion is the first in the new series for Paul and Eamonn’s Things We Like series, with the likes of Ray Winstone, Barry McGuigan, and other big names in the pipeline.
Things We Like with Sir David will be available to download on Spotify and Apple from Thursday, May 8. The two are also launching their own YouTube channel for the podcast.