David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
David Jason was fired from his role in Dad's Army just three hours into filming following a savage claim from the BBC.
Although he later rose to fame with Only Fools and Horses, the 84-year-old sitcom star’s career didn’t start off smoothly. Before his breakout role, Jason appeared in smaller parts on shows like Mother Goose and Doctor at Large. He later bagged a role in Dad's Army after auditioning for the part of Lance Corporal Jones but his tenure was cut short due to the BBC's unexpected decision.
Although show producers Jimmy Perry and David Croft were impressed with Jason’s acting skills and believed he could convincingly play an older character, BBC executive Bill Cotton overruled them, choosing Clive Dunn to play the character instead.
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Clive Dunn landed the role as Lance Corporal Jones (Image: BBC)David admitted: "I was cast at 12 o'clock and sacked by three." Jason also missed out on the role of Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1973 because BBC executives felt he lacked "star quality."
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Before making a name for himself on screen, some may be surprised to learn that Sir David Jason worked as an electrician - a job far removed from acting. Reflecting on his early career, the star shared: "When I first started work I was an apprentice electrician.
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"When you are an apprentice to any trade, you have to absorb all sorts of traits – you’re bumping into people who are bricklayers, plasterers, pipe benders, plumbers. And if you’re interested in making things, it leaves its mark.
"You get interested in how a plumber bends a piece of pipe, and that sort of thing is still with me, I still love bending pipes."
Jason revealed that he managed to land his role in Open All Hours after forging a close relationship with co-star Ronnie Barker on set. He admitted: "The reason I got to work with Ronnie on Open All Hours was because of the little bits that I had done in his other series.
“He played this wonderful, bumbling character, and I was playing this hundred-year-old gardener. It was just working with him and understanding how he approached things.”
David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
David Jason was fired three hours into Dad's Army role after BBC made ridiculous claim
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