You look at Granville. He’s awkward, he’s desperate for a date, and he’s bossed around by a grumpy old man. He feels like a teenager, right? A very tall, very nervous teenager.
Wrong. Completely wrong. David Jason was a full-grown, proper adult man when he first wobbled into that shop. It’s a bit of a shock, isn’t it?
The first episode of Open All Hours aired in 1976. Do the maths with me. David Jason was born in 1940. That makes him thirty-five years old when the show started.
Thirty-five! I’m pretty sure I was still trying to figure out how to pay a gas bill at thirty-five. He was pretending to be a spotty lad who couldn't get a date. That’s acting, folks.
Let’s Talk About the Beard… Or Lack Thereof
You might be thinking, “But he looks so young!” And you’d be right. He did look young. He had that baby face that seemed to defy time and gravity. No wrinkles, no grey hair.
It’s the same trick that lets some people pass for twenty-five when they’re pushing forty. It’s a genetic lottery win, and David Jason definitely had a winning ticket. He was a thirty-something man-child.
David Jason on the Open All Hours special - BBC News
Think about it. That floppy hair? That slightly baffled expression? Pure youthful camouflage. He leaned into the awkwardness so hard that we all just bought it. We never questioned why a man in his prime was scared of a woman with a pet monkey.
