THE ACTOR behind TV's beloved Del Boy has claimed Only Fools and Horses was cursed after the deaths of cast members and the London Irish writer behind the series.
Actor David Jason, 77, says the series suffered a curse akin to Dad's Army, where many of the cast passed away soon after the show wrapped in 1977.
The much-loved BBC comedy about the Trotters, wheeler dealer Del Boy and his younger brother Rodney in Peckham, aired for 10 years between 1981 and 1991.
Sadly in 1984 'Granddad' Lennard Pearce passed just 23 episodes into the series.
He was later replaced by new character Uncle Albert from the 'north London Trotters' played by Buster Merryfield.
In his memoir Only Fools and Stories David Jason wrote: "As well as John Sullivan, the genius who wrote the show and was the greatest writer I ever knew, who died in 2011, and the properly clever Roger Lloyd Pack (Trigger) who died in 2014, dear old Buster Merryfield, our Uncle Albert, had died in 1999.
"And Kenneth MacDonald, that sweet, kind man who was Mike, the landlord of the Nag's Head, died of a heart attack on holiday with his family in 2001 at the unfairly premature aged of 50."
He added: "People talk about the curse of Dad's Army, but surely the less noticed 'Curse of Only Fools' runs it a close second."
Writer John Sullivan was the son of Irish plumber John Snr. and was brought up in Balham, south London, where he observed market traders who became the inspiration for Del Boy.
Also in his new book, David Jason tells readers about the many lives he has lived through his characters.
From Del Boy to Granville, Pop Larkin to Frost, he takes readers behind the scenes and under the skins of some of the best loved acts of his career.
In the book, he reveals how he created Del Boy, from the voice, to the strut, to the inimitable sheepskin coat.
