David Jason: People can call me The Guv'nor

Sir David Jason has joked people can call him "The Guv'nor", after he took on the nickname from the late Ronnie Barker.

The 82-year-old actor used to refer to his 'Open All Hours' co-star Ronnie - who died in 2005 aged 76 - as "The Guv'nor" during their times on the BBC sitcom, but the "Guv’norship" was passed onto him when Ronnie retired.

He said: "Ronnie B was the head of the team and because he was such a nice man, and so creative, and very funny and stimulating in his own right, he passed that on to the rest of the cast.

"He loved showbiz, he loved acting, and he loved giving pleasure to people, and he passed that on to me, if you like.

"It was me that used to call Ronnie The Guv’nor and then when Ronnie retired he decided that he would hand over The Guv’norship, as he called it, to me. I was his apprentice – so if you ever see me you can either call me Sir David or just The Guv’nor, I don’t mind."

David is best known for starring in 'Only Fools and Horses', 'A Touch of Frost' and 'Open All Hours', but he nearly didn't appear in the latter because he initially felt he was "too old" to portray Granville, the nephew and errand boy of Ronnie's shopkeeper alter-ego Arkwright.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, David says on new documentary 'Open all Hours: 50 Years of Laughter': "I thought I was too old to play it. Meaning that if Granville was delivering groceries at that age, would he be not as bright, maybe? That was the thing that held me back.

"But when I explained this to the director and to Ronnie B, they both understood, and said, ‘It will work. It will be alright.’ Those fears were put to rest and I just – well, we just all loved it."

'Open all Hours: 50 Years of Laughter' is on Channel 5, on Saturday (04.02.23), at 8.50pm and then any time on My 5.