Best of quest

Steve Pratt reports on his latest project where Jason is reunited with his love of motorcycling.

FILMING his latest TV movie on the Isle of Man's famous TT course gave David Jason a chance to indulge in one of his favourite pastimes - motorcycles. The star of Only Fools And Horses and A Touch Of Frost doesn't use motorbikes as a mode of transport any more, but still enjoys riding them for fun. "I have access to old British bikes, which I ride occasionally," he says.

"I prefer riding them to modern motorbikes as I'm so used to riding an old British bike where things are on the opposite side. Modern motorbikes mainly have the gear controls on the left hand side and the brake is on the right, whereas on an old British bike it's the other way round.

"I once rode a modern one, but got things muddled up. I wanted to change gear, but trod on the brake and nearly threw myself over the handle bars."

Jason was in the Isle of Man directing The Second Quest, a sequel to The Quest, the 90-minute Yorkshire Television comedy-drama which marked the actor's first time behind the camera.

In 2001, after nearly 40 years in the business, he was looking for a fresh challenge and directing The Quest, about three teenage boys trying to lose their sexual innocence, was the challenge he needed. Now he's directed the sequel.

A year after the first story took place, the trio of Dave, Charlie and Ronno meet up again and recall their trip to the Isle of Man in 1960 when all three were still virgins. The cast has Jason, Roy Hudd and Hywel Bennett as the older Dave, Charlie and Ronno with Greg Faulkner, Max Wrottesley and Jim Sturgess as their younger versions.

Jason was keen to be behind the camera on the sequel. "Directing is something at this stage in my career, I feel I'm equipped to do," he explains. "The executive producer, David Reynolds, offered me the opportunity to direct the sequel because The Quest had been my own story. I found the experience very interesting as I felt that I could reinvest everything that I had learnt over the years to help the young actors. I fancied the challenge of pushing the perimeters of my own abilities."

He feels he was much better the second time around as he was more confident. "When I directed the first one I was a little bit nervous about working with such highly skilled people on the other side of the camera, but my concerns soon evaporated as I was among friends and everyone was so helpful.

"For The Second Quest, I did a lot more preparation and was more insistent on what I wanted. I'd gained more confidence in my abilities as a director.

"You do thoroughly enjoy a great deal about directing, but there are some elements which aren't as much fun. You work long hours and it's hard work and you find yourself away from home, so it's a bit of both really."

One blessing this time was better weather. The production team faced horrendous weather in the Lake District shooting the original. At one point the location manager was picked up by the wind, thrown over a bridge and into a stream. A caravan blew over, and most locations were affected by bad weather.

"Thankfully, this time we didn't have any such problems," he says. "We were very lucky that we had such beautiful weather because, being situated where the Isle of Man is, it can rain all the time.

"It's a very quiet, very nice place, which hasn't really physically changed all that much over the last 50 years. That made life a lot easier as we were able to shoot in a lot of locations without having to alter too much of the scenery, especially along the sea front as it's still as it was in the Fifties."

The cast of The Second Quest also includes Les Dennis as a crooner and beauty contest compere, and ex-Coronation Street actress Jennifer James as an unscrupulous beauty queen contestant. Jason relished worked with them because "as an actor myself, I know all the idiosyncrasies and vulnerabilities that other actors have."

He's confident that the British viewing public will enjoy The Second Quest as much as the first. The audience liking something is what matters to him most. The Quest may have been nostalgic and old-fashioned, but that's exactly what he wanted to create.

"The audience seemed to enjoy that as the film got such tremendous viewing figures," he says. "The Second Quest tells a different story, but it retains those elements. I hope that it's a sort of honest-to-goodness, simple, entertaining story that people can once again sit back and enjoy."

* The Second Quest: ITV1, Monday, 9pm.

Published: 01/04/2004