Sir David Jason breaks silence on BBC 'pulling the plug' on Jay Blades show

By Michael Moran, Features Writer

Sir David, now 84, has been in television for almost 60 years (Image: Getty)

Sir David Jason has confirmed his Touring Toolshed programme with Jay Blades has been scrapped by the BBC.

The Repair Shop's Blades, 54, was charged with coercive and controlling behaviour against his estranged wife, Lisa Zbozen, in September. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to face trial on May 6 next year.

It came after he appeared in the popular BBC show with Sir David and the Only Fools and Horses legend. The show saw the pair touring air shows, steam rallies, county fairs and vintage festivals to meet some of the UK’s most talented crafters, makers and tinkerers to talk about their projects and, if needed, help out with a few repairs.

Sir David has since spoken out about the series being "pulled". He said: “The story was, hopefully we could work together next spring/ summer. Then they pulled the plug.”

The now-cancelled show followed the pair as they met hobbyists and tinkerers (Image: BBC/Hungry Jay Media/Rosie Geiger)

The actor, famed for his roles as Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter, Detective Inspector Jack Frost and Granville from Open All Hours, had previously expressed his pride at being involved in the show.

He said: “I think it’s really great to be able to encourage people of all ages to try their hands at different skills and pastimes as we are hearing so much more about being mindful and having different hobbies to help with our mental health.”

“I’ve always been interested in building models and tinkering with anything mechanical. As a teenager, I started to gain some knowledge about motorbikes and so I went about saving and buying a BSA B31 vintage motorbike.

David had previously spoken of his pride at being involved in the show (Image: BBC/Hungry Jay Media)

“On its first outing, the frame broke and so I had to learn how to fix it and my passion kind of grew from there. Over the years, I’ve restored motorbikes and penny arcade machines amongst other things.”

Sir David, who made his TV debut in 1965 in a televised Christmas pantomime, said that throughout his long career he had always tried to remain humble, and has no time for demonstrations of ego from other performers.

He said: "That irritates me greatly when I see or hear of actors who should be so bloody lucky to be working, to be doing the job, and who behave badly."

The BBC refused to comment when contacted by Express.co.uk.