David Jason vs Nigel Planer: The difference in wage per episode for their popular BBC comedies

Out of all the British comedians and sitcoms, fans of all ages will likely know David Jason‘s portrayal of Derek “Del Boy” Trotter in Only Fools and Horses and Nigel Planer as Neil in The Young Ones as two of the best comedic performances in BBC history. The two celebs are well-regarded for their acting and writing, and now in their older ages are known as some of the best to ever do it.

When looking back at their two most famous shows, fans might wonder how much they actually earned. Of course, the fame and respect they gained is priceless, but really, what salary did they take home?

You might be surprised to find out.

According to Female First, Nigel Planer was not paid anywhere near what you might think for his performance as Neil in The Young Ones, which ran for two seasons from 1982 to 1984. The comedian once shared that he was only paid around £400 per episode! Isn’t that shocking?

“I was only paid a few hundred pounds an episode – maybe £400,” Planer said. “I do still receive royalties for the show, but that’s worked out as a percentage of what I was originally paid. So it’s only a little amount.”

As for David Jason, he did see a pretty penny for his time on Only Fools and Horses, the sitcom which ran for seven seasons between 1981 and 1991 before coming back for a revival in 2001. According to a report from Express.co, Jason was paid approximately £100,000 per episode for the revival. At this time, we cannot find how much he earned for the early seasons.

Of course, it’s unfair to compare the two star’s earnings when we’re talking about the 1980s and the early 2000s, so we’ve used

an online inflation calculator

to estimate what Planer’s price per episode would be in 2001. According to our research — and we could be wrong, this is just an estimate — Planer would earn £759.70 per episode of

The Young Ones

if it was made in 2001, at the rate he was being paid back in the day.

When you put it like that, you can see that Planer’s rate is little to nothing compared to Jason’s! While people might argue that David Jason’s portrayal as Del Boy is more famous than Planer’s as Neil, it’s still pretty wild to think about.

What do you think about the differences in their pay per episode?