David Jason has told the Radio Times how he missed out on one of television's most memorable sitcom roles.
David reveals that he was hired and fired as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army within the space of a few hours.
He believes he lost out on the role of Jones because he was not well known enough.
"I was cast at 12 o'clock and sacked by three," says David.
"The way it worked was that Bill Cotton (BBC's then Head of Variety) was in the bar and he cast Clive Dunn.
'He came back and told David Croft, 'I've got you Clive Dunn' and David said 'We've already cast it.'
'So he said: 'Who've you cast? David Jason? Well, no one's ever heard of him and plenty of people know Clive, so we'll go with him'.'
David Jason would, of course, go on to find sitcom fame as Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses. To mark his distinguished career, David will be receiving a Fellowship at next week's Bafta Television Awards.
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