It’s wonderful being remembered fondly for something that’s still hugely loved
ACTOR JOHN CHALLIS TALKS TO GABRIELLE FAGAN ABOUT BEING FOREVER KNOWN AS THE CIGAR-CHOMPING BOYCIE AND THE ENDURING APPEAL OF ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES
What does Boycie mean to you?
HE’S always with me. He’s like my shadow, really. People literally come up to me every day when I’m out and about – even when I’m abroad – and say how much they enjoyed him and want to reminisce about him.
Often they don’t know my name so they just greet me as Boycie. As a young actor, you dream of being in something that catches on with people, and when it does, it’s extraordinary. It’s wonderful being remembered so fondly for something that’s still hugely loved 35 years on.
Tell us about your documentary exploring why Only Fools And Horses is most popular show in Serbia...
I HAD heard how popular Only Fools And Horses was there, so I decided to go out and try and find out why this was.
Belgrade is a part of the world I didn’t know an awful lot about. I was fascinated not only to find out about the history of this Balkan nation, but also meet the people and find out why they were so in love with Only Fools And Horses.
Do people expect you to be like the BBC sitcom character?
A LOT of people expect me to be like the character but I’m honestly not. I’m not in the slightest bit knowledgeable about cars, for a start. I based Boycie on a man I once met in pub who had this very pedantic way of speaking. Also, he’s quite pompous, arrogant and snobbish, which isn’t me.
People often will come up and tell me how Only Fools And Horses helped them through their difficult times by making them laugh and distracting them from their problems.
It’s quite humbling really.
You are 78 now, How do you look back on your career?
WITH astonishment, really. It’s weird, an actor’s life – you wear borrowed clothes, project your voice and pretend to be other people. You have to have a sense of humour about it.
I see actors talking seriously about their art, which makes me laugh because I’ve never taken it very seriously. In a career spanning more than 50 years I’ve performed in the West End, acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre and travelled the world performing. It’s amazing really how well it’s gone.
What’s your opinion of today’s comedy scene?
With Sue Holderness who played Marlene
THERE are some very clever people out there doing brilliant stuff, I’m a huge admirer of Lee Mack, Rob Brydon and David Mitchell, but generally speaking, comedy has a harder edge, lacks charm and has coarsened.
That’s inevitable though, because comedy and humour reflects the world and it’s definitely a harder and more cynical place these days. It makes me feel even luckier to have grown up in a classic era, with programmes like Porridge, Fawlty Towers and, of course, to have been part of Only Fools And Horses.
What’s been a turning point in your life?
MEETING my fourth wife, Carol. I’d pretty well resigned myself to being single because I was convinced I was hopeless at relationships after having three failed marriages behind me.
She believed in me, grounded me, and was such a steadying influence and we’ve been married 25 years. Our passion is restoring and preserving our home, Wigmore Abbey in Herefordshire, which dates from the 12th century. Some of the scenes in The Green Green Grass were filmed here.
What’s been the toughest experience for you?
IN THE 1980s, my third marriage broke down, so I was feeling at a pretty low ebb and my mother was ill with cancer and my father had Alzheimer’s. Ironically, work was going well in Only Fools And Horses but underneath, John Challis was not doing very well at all.
My parents weren’t living together and I was an only child, so I was rushing between the two and
trying to
John Challis has investigated Only Fools And Horses’ huge popularity in Serbia for a documentary
sort out care and at that time not so much was known about Alzheimer’s. Eventually it got to a stage where my father was a danger to himself and other people and I had to section him and have him taken into care, which was absolutely the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.
Did he approve of your career?
I HAD a difficult relationship with my father. I craved his approval but don’t remember ever receiving any sort of affection or praise from him as a child.
He was a very clever self-made man, who was in the civil service, but he was always very critical of everything I did. He didn’t want me to go into acting and claimed he’d never watched me in anything, although I once found out from a friend of his that he was secretly proud of me and had watched me act. He died two years after my mother in 1990. I remember when I buried him, I cried like a baby for about two days. I wasn’t really close to him but I think that was part of the reason... I started trying to get to know him too late.
Boycie In Belgrade is available on DVD (£14.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99), and can be ordered now at boycieinbelgrade. com. Limited edition prints, T-shirts, mugs, cushions, and a Boycie’s 4 King Poker Set are also available.