Editing David Jason (section)

===Transition into a leading man===
[[File:David Jason millies.jpg|thumb|250px|Jason with Corporal Oliver Kennedy and [[Hermione Norris]] 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 (writer)|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 (Only Fools and Horses)|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 (British Army officer)|Frank Beck]] in BBC's feature-length drama ''[[All the King's Men (1999 film)|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 (TV series)|The Darling Buds of May]]'' ([[Yorkshire Television]]/[[ITV (TV network)|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 [[Jack Frost (detective)|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 50 Greatest Stars|TV's Greatest Stars]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maume |first=Chris |date=2013-12-20 |title=David Jason: The critically acclaimed small screen actor who is nobody's fool {{!}} The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-jason-the-critically-acclaimed-small-screen-actor-who-is-nobody-s-fool-9018971.html |access-date=2024-06-08 |work=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> In December 2006, he starred in ''[[Terry Pratchett's Hogfather]]'' on [[Sky1]] as [[Albert (Discworld)|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7618765.stm|title=Sir David quitting Touch of Frost|work=BBC News|access-date=16 September 2008|date=16 September 2008}}</ref> 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 (television executive)|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 (TV network)|ITV]] about an elderly [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]] supporter.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1729603/ |title = Come Rain Come Shine|website = [[IMDb]]}}</ref>

Since 2013, he has starred in ''[[Still Open All Hours]]''. It features many original cast members (and a portrait of [[Ronnie Barker]] as [[Arkwright]]) and is still 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.<ref>{{cite news | title = Strictly Come Dancing 2021: Sir David Jason and Huw Edwards make surprise appearance during Christmas special | work = [[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] | date = 25 December 2021 | access-date = 20 January 2022 | url = https://metro.co.uk/2021/12/25/strictly-2021-sir-david-jason-makes-surprise-cameo-in-christmas-special-15820497/}}</ref>