David Beckham has described his appearance on a special episode of Only Fools and Horses as “very nerve-wracking”.
The soccer star joined David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, aka Del Boy and Rodney, for a once-off episode of the hit show in aid of Sport Relief and revealed that he was surprised to have been given so much dialogue.
‘The day of filming started off with a slightly sleepless night, going over my script. The thought of being on set with Nicholas and David was obviously very nerve-racking. I woke up that morning with my script on my chest,” he said.
Beckham also told Radio Times that he would “die a happy man” after filming the Peckham-set sketch and can be seen sporting a maroon baseball hat and oversized glasses in promotional photos.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, especially with two people I’m really in awe of and have been for many years. It wasn’t just about learning the script, it was about delivering it; saying the right things at the right time.”
The episode will be the first appearance from Del Boy and Rodney filmed since the last Christmas special in 2003 and Jim Sullivan, son of creator John Sullivan, said that he was initially apprehensive about bringing the characters back to the small screen.
“David Beckham got in touch through Sport Relief saying he is a big fan of Only Fools And Horses and that he was wondering if there was a possibility of doing something together for the charity’s 2014 campaign. We were surprised and flattered by this, but a little hesitant to commit at first,” he explained.
“Since dad passed away the question of whether we’d be interested in writing any new material for Only Fools has been raised a few times, and we have always said no, our intention being to protect the work, not to attempt adding to it. However, with Sport Relief being such a worthy cause, and with the opportunity to help raise a lot of money, things were different this time, and we knew that dad would approve.”
However, he poured cold water over suggestions that the series could return.
“We very much appreciate the passionate and loyal fan base that the show has, and in a perfect world there would be more episodes, but there was only ever one writer of Only Fools and Horses, and without him, there can be no more.”
