James Buckley starts filming as young Del Boy

James Buckley starts filming as young Del Boy
James Buckley starts filming as young Del Boy (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

The Inbetweeners star James Buckley had just started filming the second special Only Fools And Horses prequel, Rock & Chips, where he stars as a young Del Boy. Writing on his Twitter page James said: "We're off for a nice dinner at my parents this evening. Then early night before rock n chips rehearsals start tomorrow". The TV star also wrote the day before: "On my way to do some sort of moped crash course today for Rock n Chips filming. Never ridden on one before. Should be interesting!" Last month James confirmed he was set to star as the younger verison of one of the best-loved British TV characters of all time in two more Rock & Chips specials. Speaking about the part to Sky.com James said: "I wasn't trying to do a David Jason impression, but there are very small traits of Del Boy that I tried to put in the part. "The young Del is still a bit of a wheeler-dealer, even though he's still at school, but he hasn't yet turned into the Del Boy that we all know." James also told how he prepared for the upcoming role: "I bought the complete box set of Only Fools And Horses to make sure I hadn't missed any episodes and I was watching a series a day at one point! "It was really interesting because there were scenes and characters mentioned that didn't seem that important at the time, but then they have a new significance once you know the story of Rock & Chips." The 1960s set one-off special tells the story of Del's teen years in Peckham. The show features Grandad (Phil Daniels), Joan (Kellie Bright) and Reg (Shaun Dingwall) as well as ex-con Freddie 'The Frog' Robdal (Nicholas Lyndhurst). Rock & Chips will return for two more specials, one at Christmas and the other for next Easter.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.