David Jason returns to BBC for new comedy

Sir David Jason has struck a blow for older actors after signing up to star in a new BBC comedy, 20 years after the last series of Only Fools and Horses.

Sir David, 71, will play a floundering chief of Buckingham Palace security, in The Royal Bodyguard, a new BBC1 sitcom produced by Jimmy Mulville.

Viewers feared they had seen the last of Sir David after he bowed out of ITV's A Touch Of Frost last year. But he will return to prime-time comedy as Captain Guy Hubble, a car park attendant and ex-soldier accidentally promoted to head of royal security.

Sir David said: "I am really looking forward to working on a great comedy project with the BBC. It will be good to have a laugh again."