Anecdotes

In 2011, Catherine Zeta-Jones invited David Jason to a rented house in Richmond to have Sunday lunch with her and her husband Michael Douglas. It was the first time Jason had seen Jones since she had wed Douglas; they had rented a magnificent property, and Douglas was in the pool playing with their sons. Jason considered him a great Hollywood star but Douglas was very relaxed as he came out the pool, dripping wet in Bermuda shorts and shook Jason's hand. Douglas thanked Jason for being generous with Jones and looking after her on the show. Jason was pleased he thought so.

David Jason put on weight as Pop Larkin because of all the food in the show; bread and ham, cheese, pickled onions, roast dinners, chocolate, etc. It was meant to show the Larkin family's generous spirit and carefree love of life. There were also fried breakfasts cooked fresh on the set on a little stove. The set constantly hummed with the smell of frying bacon, which made the crew drool with anticipation. One day on the set, the shooting schedule meant Jason sat down to breakfast five times, which meant it was piled with bacon and eggs. Jason asked if he could skip the fry-ups, so they switched to kippers, which was just as bad. The extra weight he put on meant he couldn't wear a dinner jacket to that year's BAFTA's that fit the year before. He claimed he looked like Hardy wearing something belonging to Laurel. He had to go on a few months of dieting to regain his former, "sylph-like" weight.

H.E. Bates took the title from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate; Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date".

David Jason was never asked if he wanted to pursue a personal project until the end of the series. He was shocked and giddy at how successful his career had become now; that he could shout the odds on where his career went. When asked what he wanted to do as an actor, he said he loved detective shows, and wanted to play one, which culminated in Inspecteur Frost (1992).

David Jason had never heard of Pam Ferris before starring on the show. Ferris was nice and easygoing, which was enough to convince Jason she was right for the role. Jason didn't meet Ferris at the readthrough or rehearsals but at lunch. He described Ferris as "down-to-Earth, which I immediately liked about her, and we relaxed in each other's company very quickly."