Caroline 'new David Jason'

Caroline Quentin has been hailed as the new David Jason by ITV chiefs after becoming one of the most popular stars on television.

The actress is now seen to have the same kind of 'pulling power' as Jason - who made his name on the BBC in Only Fools and Horses.

Yesterday ITV controller Nigel Pickard revealed three projects were already lined up for Miss Quentin over the next 18 months.

He told guests at a Broadcast Press Guilds lunch: 'Caroline Quentin is now starting to demonstrate the same pulling power for us that David Jason has for some time.

'She is a fantastic actress and has a broad appeal to a very wide ITV audience.'

It follows her success in the ITV1 drama Life Begins, in which she plays a mother making a new life after her husband leaves her.

The show, which ended last week, was so successful - attracting up to 10million viewers - that ITV has commissioned another series for next year.

And last year's ITV1 crime drama Blue Murder, in which she plays detective Janine Lewis, will be back on screens later this year.

Miss Quentin, 42, is also to star in a real-life drama, Footsteps in the Snow, about Judy Hill, who rebuilt her life after losing her legs in a car accident.