As Del-Boy Trotter, he was one of Britain's most loveable scoundrels.

But acting legend David Jason this week revealed how that gift of making the nation laugh began more than 50 years ago at Northside School in Albert Street, North Finchley.

"I was little and slight at school so I was bullied," remembered Mr Jason, 62, who grew up in nearby Lodge Lane and attended Northside from age five to 15.

"Children are bullies and it does not matter what you are if you are thin, fat, rich, poor, black, green, they will find something.

"In order to survive, to stop being beaten up, I became the school fool. You do not hit the bloke that makes you laugh. I could bring the entire school playground to a halt by mimicking a teacher."

His playground performances were the starting point of a prosperous career. After his debut appearance in the school play, David entered and won a local drama competition.

He said: "It was a natural progression into acting. I found that in the school play I could make not just half a dozen, but hundreds of people laugh and it was better than any drug.

"At the time I thought theatre was for fairies but I became increasingly obsessed with it. I would spend four nights a week at rehearsals at Incognito Theatre in Friern Barnet."

Mr Jason was 35 when he got his first big break with Do Not Adjust Your Set. Then he went on to star in Porridge and Open All Hours. He would later achieve high acclaim for his role as Pop Larkin in Darling Buds of May and Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost.

But he considers Only Fools and Horses his biggest success and, after 20 years, thinks the show still has potential.

"I thought Fools and Horses had reached its natural end two years ago," said Mr Jason. "I thought we could never get it back but John Sullivan is a genius writer and he convinced me we could still do it and we did.

"We had a ball, it was great. It cannot go on much longer because we would all be on Zimmer frames but never say never again."

Live performance remains his true passion and he is keeping an open mind about the future.

"The most enjoyable point of my career was in No Sex Please, We're British, in the West End," he said.

"When 1,200 people are laughing it hits you like a wall; it is the biggest adrenaline rush you can have.

"But variety is the spice of life and in my position, I am very lucky. I move the goalposts all the time so I can do what I enjoy doing most escaping from myself and creating characters.

"I enjoy breathing life into them, be it Dickensian Micawber or Del-Boy, anything that presents a challenge moves me forward.

"I do not want to stand still or I might as well retire. If Steven Spielberg reads this, Tom Hanks and I will be available for his next movie. We are up for the future."

Opening his newly-refurbished old school on Friday, Mr Jason offered the young listeners a few words of encouragement: "All you little people sitting there are ready to punch the future on its nose and it is out there for you if you study hard.

"I hope all you kids are as happy here as I was and your futures are as successful as mine turned out to be."

September 30, 2002 18:30