Early years Jason started his television career in the made-for-TV film
Mother Goose (1965). He played Bert Bradshaw in
Crossroads in 1966. In the following year, he played spoof super-hero
Captain Fantastic, among other roles, in the children's comedy series
Do Not Adjust Your Set (
Rediffusion London/
ITV) with
Eric Idle,
Terry Jones,
Denise Coffey, and
Michael Palin.
Humphrey Barclay, who recruited Jason to appear in
Do Not Adjust Your Set (partly to counter the more
highbrow style of Idle, Jones, and Palin), admired his sense of timing. The programme ended in 1969, and the character then appeared for a time in the
Thames Television children's programme
Magpie. Jason appeared in the BBC comedy series
Hugh and I in 1967, which starred
Hugh Lloyd and
Terry Scott as two friends who lived together in
South London. He appeared in the
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) episode "
That's How Murder Snowballs" (1969) as Abel, a framed performer in a major London theatre. In 1968, Jason was initially cast in the role of
Lance Corporal Jones in the
Jimmy Perry and
David Croft BBC comedy ''
Dad's Army''. Croft had been very impressed with Jason and believed that he had the talent to play a man much older than his real age (though he was only 28 at the time) but BBC executive
Bill Cotton overruled him, casting
Clive Dunn because he was better known. According to Jason, "I was cast at 12 o'clock and sacked by three." Jason also missed out on the starring role of Frank Spencer in ''
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' in 1973 because BBC executives at the time believed that he lacked "star quality". In the 1970s, he also acted in radio comedies, including the weekly topical
satire Week Ending (in which he regularly played such figures as then UK Foreign Secretary
Dr David Owen) and ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (as the "B Ark Captain" in the sixth episode). Jason also appeared in The Next Programme Follows Almost Immediately and made appearances on panel games such as The Impressionists
as well as his own series, The Jason Explanation
. In the early 1970s, he appeared in Mostly Monkhouse''. Jason appeared on stage in the
West End in the
farce ''
No Sex Please, We're British'' playing Brian Runnicles for 18 months in 1973. He also starred with Valerie Leon in a stage comedy "Darling Mr London" which toured in 1975. Jason appeared in variety shows as the supporting act of
Dick Emery and his performances caught the attention of
Ronnie Barker. Jason was recruited to appear in
Hark at Barker (
LWT, 1969), starring opposite Barker's Lord Rustless, as Dithers, the 100-year old gardener. There was also a sequel,
His Lordship Entertains (1972) for the
BBC. Jason played
idealistic employee
Granville in the first programme of the comedy anthology
Seven of One (1973), called
Open All Hours (BBC) and starring Barker as the curmudgeonly proprietor of a corner shop. Four series of
Open All Hours were made from 1976 to 1985. He featured in Barker's
Porridge (BBC), a prison comedy, as the elderly
Blanco in three episodes. Jason also appeared with Barker in various disguises in
The Two Ronnies, including providing the "raspberry" sound effect for
The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town. Jason starred in
London Weekend Television's
Lucky Feller (1975–76), written by
Terence Frisby and produced by
Humphrey Barclay. About two brothers in south-east London, the series was in many ways a forerunner to
Only Fools And Horses. He played the lead role of Peter Barnes in the
ATV sitcom
A Sharp Intake of Breath (1977–81), alongside
Alun Armstrong and
Richard Wilson. In 1979, he appeared as
Buttons in the
pantomime Cinderella at
Newcastle's
Theatre Royal, starring Leah Bell and
Bobby Thompson, produced by Michael Grayson and directed by John Blackmore.
Children's television In the 1980s, Jason developed a working partnership with
Cosgrove Hall, and was a
voice-over artist for a number of children's television productions. This included voices for
Danger Mouse,
The BFG,
Count Duckula, Hugo from
Victor and Hugo, and Toad from
The Wind in the Willows, all produced by Cosgrove Hall for
Thames Television/ITV. He provided the voice of Father Christmas in
Father Christmas and the Missing Reindeer, Rola Polar in
The Adventures of Dawdle the Donkey,
Angelmouse, and did voices in animated films including
Wombling Free and
The Water Babies.
Transition into a leading man at the Sun Military Awards in 2012 In 1981, Jason was cast as
Del Boy Trotter in the BBC situation comedy
Only Fools and Horses, created by
John Sullivan. Del is a
wide boy who makes a dishonest living in
Peckham, south London, trading in broken, stolen, and
counterfeit goods. He is assisted by his brother Rodney (played by
Nicholas Lyndhurst) and
Grandad (played by
Lennard Pearce) and, in later episodes, Uncle Albert (played by
Buster Merryfield). In 1989, Jason starred as Ted Simcock in the ITV drama series
A Bit of a Do, aired from January to December. In 1999, Jason starred as Captain
Frank Beck in BBC's feature-length drama ''
All the King's Men about the Sandringham regiment lost in World War I. He earned acclaim for a string of serious roles. These include Skullion in Porterhouse Blue (for Channel 4), Sidney "Pop" Larkin in the rural idyll The Darling Buds of May'' (
Yorkshire Television/
ITV), based on the
H. E. Bates novel, which also featured
Catherine Zeta-Jones. In 1992, he signed a
golden handcuffs deal with ITV to star as
Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the long-running TV series
A Touch of Frost (Yorkshire Television/ITV). In September 2006, he was voted by the general public as No. 1 in ITV's poll of
TV's Greatest Stars. In December 2006, he starred in ''
Terry Pratchett's Hogfather on Sky1 as Albert. In early 2007, he starred in Diamond Geezer (Granada Television/ITV). This series ran for 3 episodes of 90 minutes each. There was a pilot in 2005. In March 2008, he starred as Rincewind in Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic, and in the two part ITV drama Ghostboat''. On 16 September 2008, Jason announced that he would step down from his role as Jack Frost after 16 years. Three new episodes of the show were shown in autumn 2008, and were followed by a two-part finale in 2010. Approached by
BBC1 controller
Danny Cohen in early 2011, he read three scripts and agreed to shoot a pilot for
The Royal Bodyguard, which was shown at the
Edinburgh Film Festival. The pilot episode aired on the BBC on
Boxing Day but received a poor critical response. The series was axed after six episodes. In 2010, Jason starred in a made-for-TV movie
Come Rain Come Shine with
Alison Steadman for
ITV about an elderly
Millwall supporter. Between 2013 and 2019, he starred in
Still Open All Hours. It featured many original cast members (and a portrait of
Ronnie Barker as
Arkwright) and was written by
Roy Clarke, the original writer and creator of the show. He has also starred as Captain Skipper, a sea captain, sea dog and Pip's uncle in the animated series
Pip Ahoy!. In December 2021, Jason made a surprise cameo appearance on the Christmas Special of
Strictly Come Dancing in the role of Del Boy to pass on a special message to
The Repair Shop's
Jay Blades, who was performing to the
Only Fools and Horses theme tune. ==Honours==