Tessa Peake-Jones: did Only Fools and Horses star date on-screen son Douglas Hodge? Relationship explained

Throughout the history of TV and film, there have been loads of stars who have dated their on-screen family members - David Tennant married Georgia Moffett, who played his daughter on Doctor Who, Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C Hall who played brother and sister on Dexter also married, although they got divorced in 2010.

The relationship of one on-screen mother and son that has suddenly been getting attention is that of Tessa Peake-Jones and Douglas Hodge from Only Fools and Horses.

This is what you need to know.

Who is Tessa Peake-Jones?

Peake-Jones is an English actress best known for starring as Raquel in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, the longtime partner of Del Boy, played by David Jason.

She appeared in the show from December 1988 until it ended in 2003.

Peake-Jones was born on 9 May 1957 in Hammersmith, London and outside of appearing on Only Fools and Horses, she also had a co-starring role in the 1999 series Births, Marriages, and Deaths.

Her other television credits include The Demon Headmaster, Midsomer Murders, Casualty, Holby City, The Bill, Up the Garden Path and So Haunt Me.

In 2009 and 2011, Peake-Jones appeared as Sue Bond in the BBC soap Doctors, and in 2013 appeared in the Doctor Who Christmas episode opposite Matt Smith (The Crown, Last Night in Soho) and Jenna Coleman (Emmerdale, The Cry).

Since 2019, Peake-Jones has appeared on the ITV detective drama Grantchester, set in the 1950s, as Mrs Slyvia Maguire.

Who is Douglas Hodge?

Hodge is also an English actor, director and musician who, while having appeared in a number of TV shows, is best known for his theatrical work.

Hodge, born on 25 February 1960 in Plymouth, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Talking about RADA in an interview with the Guardian, Hodge said: “I was led to believe everyone would be very bohemian and artistic, but there was no political knowledge of what was happening in the day - it was just training for a polite and humble entry into the [Royal Shakespeare Company].”

Hodge has acted in a number of plays by famous British playwright Harold Pinter, including No Man’s Land, Moonlight, Betrayal and The Caretaker. For his role as Aston in The Caretaker, Hodge was nominated for an Olivier Award.

He made his directing debut in 2004 at the Oxford Playhouse with a double billing of Pinter - The Dumb Waiter and Other Pieces. In 2015, Hodge made his debut as a director on Broadway with Pinter’s 1971 play Old Times.

His other theatrical acting credits include starring in Pericles, Blinded by the Sun, The Winter’s Tale, Three Sisters, Dumb Show, Guys and Dolls, A Matter of Life and Death and Cyrano de Bergerac, to name but a few.

Hodge’s television appearances include Only Fools and Horses, Spooks, Outnumbered, The Night Manager, Penny Dreadful and Black Mirror.

On Only Fools and Horses, the character of Damien Trotter, the son of Del Boy and Raquel (played by Peake-Jones) was played by a variety of actors, including Hodge appearing as a grown up Damien in the 1996 episode Heroes and Villains.

Hodge also starred in Joker, which featured Joaquin Phoenix (Her, You Were Never Really Here) as Arthur Fleck.

Talking to the Guardian, Hodge called the film “genius”.

He said: “It’s genius, that switch in perspective. If Batman could have the money to fund the Bat Cave and to fight crime, well, of course he’d have to be part of the 1%!

“They live on their hill and they don’t give a flying f**k about the rest of us. I thought the movie was magnificent, though Joaquin was probably too thin.”

How long were Tessa Peake-Jones and Douglas Hodge together?

Peake-Jones and Hodge were together for 27 years, and had two children together - their daughter Mollie, born in 1991, and their son Charlie, born in 2000.

They announced their split in February 2013.

A spokesperson for the two said at the time: “I’m able to confirm that Tessa and Douglas separated in the autumn of [2012] by mutual and amicable agreement and they will continue to raise their two children jointly.”

Following their split, Hodge went on to marry American wigmaker Amanda Miller.