Beckham to team up with Del Boy and Rodney

[January 22, 2014]  LONDON (Reuters) — Former England soccer captain David Beckham is joining forces with two of Britain's most loveable comedy rogues to make a special appearance in a charity sketch of the sitcom "Only Fools and Horses".

It is the first time in 10 years that actors David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst will reunite as brothers Derek and Rodney Trotter, and Beckham jumped at the chance to be involved. The last "Only Fools and Horses" reunion was a 2003 Christmas special.

The charity Comic Relief said in a statement on Tuesday that the sketch would be broadcast as part of a star-studded television night on March 21.

"To be able to record a new 'Only Fools and Horses' sketch is in itself very special but for David Beckham, who is a huge fan of the show, to be part of this is truly brilliant," said Comic Relief Chief Executive Kevin Cahill.

"Only Fools and Horses", a British sitcom that ran in the 1980s, follows the fortunes of the brothers, known as "Del Boy" and "Rodders", in their dubious and often ill-fated attempts to get rich in Peckham, south London.

As well as "Only Fools and Horses", the night of television will also feature a special edition of "Strictly Come Dancing" with paralympians and hosts including Gary Lineker, Claudia Winkleman and Clare Balding.

Beckham, 38, last appeared in a sketch for Comedy Relief in 2012 when he cuddled up in bed with comedian James Corden. In 2010 he jumped into a bath with Corden.

But the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, who also played for AC Milan, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Paris St Germain, has quashed speculation that he could take up a career in acting after retiring as a player last May.

"I'm not very good at acting, so maybe it wouldn't be a very good idea to go into that kind of industry," he said last month.

(Reporting by Julia Fioretti, editing by Ed Osmond)

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