David Jason’s battles with Only Fools and Horses bent copper Roy Slater helped fuel his ambition to cross to the right side of the law and become a TV detective, The European columnist and former producer Pip Burley has revealed – eventually leading to the creation of his much-loved Jack Frost

Del Boy’s nemesis in Only Fools and Horses inspired David Jason to become a TV policeman himself – but a “law-abiding straight one”, his former producer revealed yesterday.

DCI Roy Slater, the corrupt detective played by Jim Broadbent, was one of the show’s most memorable villains who would “nick you for anything you did – or anything you didn’t”.

He spent years tormenting the Trotters, framing them for crimes they had not committed, threatening them with prison and resorting to blackmail.

But performing opposite a bent copper like Slater “fuelled Jason’s long ambition” to take the lead in a detective drama himself.

After years playing a lovable rogue, he wanted to be on the right side of the law – and had always dreamed of playing someone like Columbo, the scruffy US cop he adored.

When producer Pip Burley discovered Jack Frost in Rodney Wingfield’s novels, Jason jumped at the chance to play him on screen.

A Touch of Frost went on to run for 15 series, attract audiences of up to 18 million and become one of Britain’s best-loved detective dramas.

Writing exclusively in The European, Burley – who also produced The Darling Buds of May and worked with Jason for more than 20 years – said: “David had spent years as Del Boy being chased by bent coppers like Slater, so there was something rather lovely about him finally wanting to be the policeman himself – just a law-abiding, straight one the audience could root for.

“Slater was everything you didn’t want a policeman to be: crooked, bullying and liable to nick you whether you’d done anything or not. 

“I think playing opposite a character like that only fuelled David’s long-standing ambition to play a detective himself.

“And the policeman he always came back to was Columbo. 

“David absolutely loved Peter Falk – that scruffy, slightly chaotic appearance hiding somebody incredibly sharp and completely dedicated to catching the bad guy.

“David had spent so long playing lovable rogues, generally created by the genius of sitcoms John Sullivan, trying to stay one step ahead of the law. 

“Now he wanted to be on the other side of it, playing a law-abiding straight policeman.”

Jason, who had been playing Del Boy since 1981, revealed his ambition to become a TV detective after The Darling Buds of May ended in 1993.

He told Burley that his ideal role would be an English policeman with some of the qualities he admired in Peter Falk’s Columbo – scruffy, apparently absent-minded and frequently underestimated.

Burley’s researchers later found Rodney Wingfield’s little-known Frost novels, but the character – a chain-smoking alcoholic – was far darker than Jason wanted.

Frost was softened for TV, keeping the scruffy clothes, chaotic manner and unconventional policing while toning down the darker edges.

They also brought in traits Jason admired in Columbo, including the dishevelled appearance and the impression that suspects were dealing with someone rather less sharp than he really was.

Burley, a columnist at The European and author of the ‘Harmony’ series of books written under his pen-name Philip G Walsh, wrote: “We knew David wouldn’t want to play someone like the original character of Jack Frost, so we softened the character for TV.

“We then took elements of Columbo’s persona and traits and built them into Frost, so David finally got to play the part he always dreamed of.”

Once Frost had been reworked, the books and an outline for the series were sent to Jason while he was on a diving holiday in the Seychelles.

He was so enthusiastic that it took three answerphone messages to explain how much he liked the idea because the machine kept cutting him off, Burley said.

The role gave him his first major long-running straight dramatic lead after years in which audiences had known him as Del Boy, Granville and Pop Larkin.

A Touch of Frost went on to run for 15 series and 42 episodes between 1992 and 2010, peaking at 18 million viewers in 1994.

Jason had announced two years earlier that he intended to retire Frost because he believed the detective was becoming too old.

He told Burley: “You wouldn’t want me to play Frost in a wheelchair, would you? … Frost is getting a little long in the tooth. I still enjoy doing it and it’s a great part, but I just think he’s got to retire. It’ll be a sad day.”

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_{Main image: Del Boy’s battles with bent copper Roy Slater helped fuel David Jason’s ambition to cross to the right side of the law as a TV detective. Credits: BBC/fair use; Scottish Documentary Institute, CC BY 2.0; Hlliwmai, CC BY-SA 4.0. (The European)}