Peter Armitage

Lucky Feller is a 1976 ITV sitcom written by Terence Frisby and produced by Humphrey Barclay.

It featured David Jason and ran for just one series of 13 episodes. It is reported that London Weekend Television later tried to revive it in the 1990s but Jason did not agree to this as he felt at the time he was being over-exposed.

About two brothers in South-East London, the basic set-up can be seen as a dry run for Only Fools and Horses, except with David Jason playing the nerdy “Rodders” part, Shorty Mepstead. The other brother, Randolph Mepstead, was played by Peter Armitage. In the sitcom, Jason was in love with a girl, who was sexually infatuated with – and indeed pregnant by – Randolph Mepstead. Despite her feelings for Randolph, she was engaged to Shorty and had to bed him before the end of the series to make sure that he would think he was the father. But despite her best attempts, and Jason’s feelings for her, the consummation never quite happened.

Guest stars included such names as Pat Heywood, Prunella Scales and Mike Grady as well as international stars such as Bert Kwouk and Saeed Jaffrey. The show was directed by both Gerry Mill and Mike Vardy and was mainly filmed in and around South London. The show was offered a second series, however writer Terence Frisby didn’t feel he had enough ideas for the series to continue and therefore the show was axed after the final episode.