David Jason by Buster Merryfield). In 1989 Jason starred as Ted Simcock in the ITV drama series "A Bit of a Do", aired from January to December. In 1999, Jason starred as Captain Frank Beck in BBC's feature-length drama "All the King's Men" about the Sandringham regiment lost in World War I. He earned acclaim for a string of straight roles. These include Skullion in "Porterhouse Blue" (for Channel 4), Sidney "Pop" Larkin in the rural idyll "The Darling Buds of May" (Yorkshire Television/ITV) and based on the H. E. Bates novel, which featured Catherine Zeta-Jones in an early role. In 1992,
The Darling Buds of May (TV series) Originally a short story, he expanded it into a novel, followed by a further four books, the titles of the first four of which were used as episode titles for the TV series: The first novel in the series was originally adapted to the screen in 1959 as "The Mating Game", starring Debbie Reynolds and Tony Randall as Mariette and Charley. The fifth novel, "A Little of What You Fancy?", was never adapted for television, but it was adapted into a six-part series by Eric Pringle for BBC Radio, with Jason and Ferris reprising their roles, first airing in February