Sean Astin: 'I'm a David Jason scholar'

Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin has claimed that he studied David Jason's career before he worked with him on The Colour of Magic.

The pair appear together in Sky One's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel, but Astin admitted that he had previously known nothing about his co-star.

The actor told Metro: "I didn’t know anything about him and, since we were working together, I wanted to see other things he’d done."

He added: "I went to a shop and bought £1,000 worth of David Jason DVDs. I started off watching eight episodes of Only Fools And Horses in one go. Then I watched Open All Hours. I’ve become a David Jason scholar."

When asked what his favourite Only Fools And Horses scene was, Astin replied: "Everyone talks about the bit where he falls through the bar but I didn’t think it was that much funnier than some of the other things he does.

"He’s great with props, he does it so smoothly. His facial expressions are great, too."