Ray Butt

Ray Butt, who has died aged 78, was a comedy producer responsible for some of the most famous sit-coms of the last 30 years. He produced, and directed, Last of the Summer Wine and Are You Being Served? but his most famous contribution to comedy was Only Fools and Horses. He developed the show with the writer John Sullivan and it was he who pushed for David Jason as Del Boy against the reluctance of his bosses at the BBC.

Butt was probably drawn to the idea of a sitcom about a wheeler-dealer market trader because there was a little bit of Del Boy in his own life. He was born in the east end of London where his father had a stall selling cigarettes and sweets in Bow. After doing his national service in the RAF for two years, he joined the BBC not as a producer or director but as an electrician. At that time, in the 1950s and 60s, the BBC comedy department was run by the legendary Dennis Main Wilson, who was famous for nurturing talent. Butt was allowed to work his way up from electrician to cameraman and then director and by 1969 he was working on The Liver Birds.

Butt went on to direct some of the BBC's biggest comedy hits of the 1970s: Are You Being Served?, Last of the Summer Wine, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Citizen Smith. It was while working on Citizen Smith that Butt met the writer John Sullivan and they immediately hit it off, partly because they came from similar backgrounds.

The development of Only Fools and Horses came about when Sullivan was scouting around for ideas and met Butt at The Three Kings pub in North End Road, London. Sullivan had a vague idea about a comedy based on a market trader he remembered as a child and Butt loved the idea.

"At the time the papers were full of all this stuff about the black economy," said Butt. "and this fella John talked about was that sort of bloke. He'd only deal in cash. He was a guy who would do anything for readies and he didn't pay any tax. He didn't take anything from the state but wouldn't give anything to the state either. He was a readies man, simple as that."

Sullivan went off to develop the idea and produced a script which Butt pushed to be produced. Reluctantly, the bosses agreed, but they weren't budging on the casting of Del Boy.

First, the part was offered to the Scottish actor Enn Reitel but he couldn't do it. Jim Broadbent was also offered the role but again wasn't available (he would later appear in Only Fools and Horses as the bent copper Roy Slater). Sullivan was convinced David Jason, then most famous as Granville in Open All Hours, would be right for the part, but there was considerable resistance to the choice. Would an actor famous for playing weedy parts be able to convince audiences as the tough East End trader? As soon as Jason read for the part, there were no more doubts. The last regular episode in 1991 drew 24 million, making it the most-watched comedy episode in British television history.

After the success of Only Fools and Horses, Butt continued to work in BBC comedy, often with Sullivan. There was Just Good Friends with Paul Nicholas and Dear John. In the late 80s, he left the BBC to work for ITV and directed two sitcoms Sob Sisters and Young, Gifted and Broke.

He is survived by his partner, Jo Blyth, and a daughter from a previous marriage.