HAVING waited until his sixties to crack America, Nicholas Lyndhurst is set to become an even bigger star across the pond.
I can reveal the Only Fools And Horses legend’s role in US sitcom Frasier will be expanded after the reboot was awarded a second series.
Writers want to explore his character Alan Cornwall’s back story when filming resumes later this year.
A TV insider said: “Viewers are fascinated by Alan and want to know more about him. Writers are discussing ideas surrounding his family and potentially bringing in new faces to aid his storylines.”
Nicholas, famous for playing Rodney Trotter in Only Fools, has won huge praise in the US for his role in Frasier.
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His character Alan is a former Oxford university pal of Dr Frasier Crane, played Kelsey Grammer, and has been the pick of the recruits to star in the reboot of the series, which first ran from 1993 to 2004.
Alan’s dry wit and ability to put the shrink-turned-lecturer in his place has ensured the loss of Frasier’s on-screen brother Niles, played by David Hyde Pierce — who chose not to appear in the reboot — has not been missed.
Brit actor Jack Cutmore-Scott, who plays Frasier’s son Freddy, has backed the idea of exploring Alan’s past and has tipped another British acting great to play his mum.
He said: “I would love it if we met Alan’s mum or his parents. I think that Maggie Smith would be perfect.
“If you’re available, Maggie, just let us know.”
Speaking at a TV event in the US last month, Kelsey described Nicholas as a “comic genius”.
He said: “Unbeknown to the American audience, Nicholas is a comic genius, he is also a national treasure. It’s a chance for him to show that set of pipes, that skill, over here.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure for me. I’m ecstatic about it.”
As his Only Fools brother Del Boy might say, he really is the crème de la menthe.
SAVE OUR EARS, KATE
KATE Winslet's new role sees her as a terrible dictator – and an even worse singer.
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The Hollywood actress plays Elena Vernham, the leader of a fictional central European nation in new six-part series The Regime, coming to Sky Atlantic soon.
In the opening scenes, her subjects are seen clapping politely as she badly performs Chicago's tune If You Leave Me Now, at full volume and completely off-key.
But luckily for Kate, it’s not her real singing voice. She told reporters at the series’ launch that it was all part of director Stephen Frears' ’ plan.
She said: “It’s a really difficult song to sing, it’s just so tricky, but I had practised. But Stephen said, ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me. Why is she singing it well? Sing it badly’.
“It was a brilliant piece of direction because it let the audience know you’re supposed to laugh.”
URINE TROUBLE, RYLAN
RYLAN Clark will shock guests on Mel Giedroyc's new series of Unforgivable by revealing he duped a pop star into drinking his PEE.
The TV favourite recalls how he jetted off to Majorca for a residency at a beachside club shortly after finding fame on The X Factor in 2012.
But after a fellow performer rubbed him up the wrong way by being rude to staff backstage, Rylan decided to get revenge.
In the first episode of the show, which airs on Dave next Tuesday at 10pm, he tells Mel: “I used to fly there every Tuesday, perform three songs and fly back. I had the residency on the Tuesday, and another ‘pop star’ had the residency on the Wednesday.
“I asked what that person was like, and they said, ‘He treats us all like s**t and he’s really, really rude to people’.
“Every week he’d have the same bottle of whisky and only have one drink from it – so on my last night I found said bottle of whisky and I topped it up myself.
“I got a video the following day of said pop star drinking from the bottle.
“It was wee-sky.”