Sir David Jason, 84, meets with the cast of Only Fools and Horses The Musical as he makes a rare public appearance for the gala performance

Sir David Jason made a rare public appearance for the gala performance of Only Fools and Horses The Musical in London on Wednesday evening. 

The actor, 84, portrayed Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter on the beloved BBC sitcom which ran from 1981 to 1991 followed by several Christmas specials that ended in 2003.

Posing for photos backstage at the Eventim Apollo, he was joined by Sam Lupton who has taken on his iconic character for the UK tour. 

David looked smart in a red zip-up jumper which he wore with a suede jacket and a pair of beige trousers.

Vinny Jones, who plays Danny Driscoll in the musical, and Paul Whitehouse who has taken on the role of Grandad were also present. 

Chas and Dave star Dave Peacock was in attendance for the opening night, joined by his late co-stars wife Joan Hodges. 

Only Fools and Horses The Musical will run for 28 shows at London's Hammersmith Eventim Apollo from December 17.

The show is now on a nationwide tour until July 5 next year, following its record-breaking four-year sold-out run in the West End.  

Sir David reportedly almost quit Only Fools And Horses during its prime back in 1986 and almost an entirely different ending for Del Boy character was written. 

According to The Sun, as the actor contemplated leaving, head writer John Sullivan wrote a potential final episode called Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

The episode did air that year but it almost had a very different ending. It saw a character named Jumbo Mills arrive in Peckham after supposedly making a fortune while living in Australia.

The initial idea was that Jumbo would cross paths with Del and tempt him to return to Australia with him to make his fortune there.

This would have given David the opportunity to make a clean break from the show while setting up for the series to carry on without him.

Producers were reportedly contemplating making Nicholas Lyndhurst the star of a new version of the show called Hot Rod, centred around his character Rodney. 

While the fate of Only Fools And Horses hung in the balance, David ultimately changed his mind and decided to stay with the series.

The episode aired with Del rejecting Jumbo Mils' offer to go to Australia.  

David previously told how he feels the 'ghost' of Del is following him and feels the character hangs over him.

He said: 'That Derek Trotter thing, he's a bit of a ghost that comes along behind me like A Christmas Carol.'

The star expressed frustration that despite a decades-long career in film and television he is most know for playing Del Boy.

He said the character 'only hangs me back, only upsets me slightly is because that seems to be the only thing that people remember me for.'

'I'm delighted in one way that it's reached so many people and they've enjoyed what I've done with the character, but I've done so many other things that everybody seems to have forgotten about. It's like I've only ever played Derek Trotter.'

David revealed that while he isn't disappointed with his career, there are still so many goals he hasn't achieved and put that down to being followed by the ghost of his most iconic character.

The star explained: 'My real disappointment or regret, if you like, is I always wanted to be a National Theatre player.' 

He continued: 'I always wanted to be on the stage of the National Theatre. It was just that romantic image of playing those big productions with all those big, wonderful actors. That never happened.'

When host Jon suggested he still had time to realise his dream of taking to the stage, Jason replied that his time may have run out, explaining that his memory is not what it was.

He said: 'Well you wonder whether the old memory would be quite good enough. I could do it with the autocue things.' 

But seeming to shake off his melancholy mood, he then playfully turned to the camera and said: 'Hey! Yes, National Theatre, I'm available!'