Mission Possible? I'm waiting for your call

SIR DAVID JASON dressed as Batman in a famous episode of Only Fools & Horses - now it seems playing an action hero went to his head.

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Aged 85, the comedy legend wants to team up with Tom Cruise for a twist on his hit Mission: Impossible franchise.

"I have met Tom," says Sir David. "I got to know him quite well and I offered him the chance to join me in a film called Mission: Possible.

"It will be Mission: Possible starring Sir David Jason and Tom Cruise in smaller letters. I am still waiting for the return from Paramount. These things are always slow. Watch this space."

At 5ft 6in, Sir David is only one inch shorter than Tom, 63. And he could give him a run for his money when it comes to stunts - some of them even more daredevil than falling through the bar in another classic Del Boy moment.

He says: "I have done lots of my own stunts over the years and I have done a barrel roll in a Spitfire." As he begins a nationwide speaking tour, Sir David says his stature had a bearing on the way he played DI Jack Frost in ITV's A Touch of Frost from 1992 to 2010. He says: "In those days, the minimum height to be a policeman was 5ft 8in. In order to achieve the minimum, I had to carry myself differently.

"I would walk and behave like a policeman. That set me off and the height kept me as high as I could possibly be. He was a wonderful character."

Growing up in North London, Sir David worked as an electrician before going into acting – something he says helped when it came to developing his best-loved character, Only Fools' Del Boy.

But his vision of the character was nothing like that of scriptwriter John Sullivan.

Sir David explains: "When I was an electrician, my partner and I went to a builders' yard and ended up in Plaistow and asked if we could see the boss.