Paul Winehouse tricked into Only Fools and Horses role

6 March 2020

Paul Whitehouse was never supposed to star in 'Only Fools and Horses The Musical' but was tricked into playing Granddad.

Paul Whitehouse

The 61-year-old comedian co-wrote the stage show with Jim Sullivan - the son of 'Only Fools' creator John Sullivan - and helped pen the music that features with Jim and late Chas & Dave singer Chas Hodges.

As well as playing Granddad, Paul also cameos as Uncle Albert in the production, however, he was never meant to have an acting role but after filling in during the workshop stage he was convinced to tread the boards.

Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he revealed: "I wasn't going to play a part at all, I was just going to write it. Then as we were building it up and doing the workshops they said, 'Why don't you just be Granddad?' I must be very gullible really!"

The 'Fast Show' star soon realised that once he'd reluctantly agreed to play the part made famous in the TV sitcom by the late Lennard Pearce that Uncle Albert would also have to feature in the show too because Buster Merryfield's alter ego was so beloved by fans.

He said: "You can't just do Granddad because Uncle Albert is such a well-loved character. He's a more obvious, humorous character. Granddad is a more sympathetic character in a way, you can do a bit more with him - he's quite vulnerable and I used to like those early series. We thought, if I could do a quick change and come back out and do a quick Uncle Albert, then everybody gets a bit of Uncle Albert and Granddad."

And although he encouraged other actors in the production to add their own elements to the much-loved characters, he was well aware that certain characteristics had to remain especially when it came to the Trotter brothers Del Boy and Rodney - who were played by Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst on screen - and car salesman Boycie, who was made memorable by John Challis in the BBC programme.

Paul said: "If you're going do Boycie, you're going to have to do the laugh. You've got to do that. I think the idea was to do something to get the essence of all the characters. David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, great as though they are - they're actors - and what they did was interpret John Sullivan's script. But you have to give a nod to them because that's what people want and it's a celebration. A good actor will try and keep a little bit of that but try and give it a bit of their own interpretation."