This is a piece I wrote about the actor John Challis, shortly after he passed away in September of 2021. I did not know the man personally, but I wanted to pay tribute to someone I had grown up watching.
This was originally written and recited on an episode of the Nineties n Noughties UK podcast.
I was sad to hear of the passing of English Actor John Challis, who passed away last week at the age of 79. I, like millions of people in the UK, grew up watching Challis work his magic as car dealer Terrance Aubrey Boyce, known more widely as Boycie, in John Sullivan’s classic British Sitcom Only Fools and Horses, which ran on the BBC between 1981 and 2003. His funny quips, his distinctive laugh and his relationship with his wife Marlene, played a part in making that show a success. I have many happy memories of his character, and I’m sure you do too. Some that spring to mind comes from the 2002 Christmas special, Strangers On The Shore. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it and may want to check it out, there are still some out there, but two lines that stick out are: “Can you smell onions and Do you want a sandwich!”
I realised fairly recently that my first exposure to John may not have been the aforementioned often-rerun sitcom starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst. He was one of those faces that turned up quite frequently in TV shows as a side character or a brief cameo. His height made him perfect for specific roles. Indeed, I believe my first glimpse of him, although I didn’t know it at the time, was on an old VHS passed down from my sibling called Roland Rat The Series, a BBC sketch show that ran in the mid-80s, the famous rodent, and his friend Kevin The Gerbil, previously of TV:AM were a strange phenomenon aimed at family audiences. Looking at it now, it was pretty adult at times. Challis played a policeman in a bizarre sketch called Bridge Over The River Kwai. It also has a post Eastenders Ross Davidson, who tries to blow up a bridge until Challis stops him. The sketch ends with the policeman’s car being blown up! That’s my car! He says, with perfect comic timing.
His other appearances include parts in Juliet Bravo, Ever Decreasing Circles, The Bill, One Foot in the Grave, Open All Hours, The New Statesman, Don’t Wait Up, Soldier Soldier, Brass Eye, My Family, In Sickness and in Health, Benidorm and Heartbeat. Just reading that list feels like a what’s what of TV from anyone who grew up in Britain in the last 40 years!
After Only Fools, Challis would star as Boycie in a spin-off sitcom called Green Green Grass with Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan between 2005 and 2009. My family watched the show on Friday nights, with John Sullivan singing the theme tune still ringing in my ears; The whole room laughing together as Challis and Holderness showed they could be more than just side characters. I caught an episode about five years ago and was surprised how well it still held up, and how I now felt nostalgic towards it. It’s true that it wasn’t as good as Only Fools, but for people of my generation, where Fools sometimes seemed like a whole different time, it was nice to have this show that offered something fresh for these characters.
I last saw Challis in an episode of the modern-day Sooty Show, which was an absolute delight. He never stopped working, whether it was on the screen, in the theatre, or via those personal celebrity videos. Coincidentally, I watched what is said to be his last video (recorded a few days before his passing) the other day with my son who is nearly a year old. As Challis did the Boycie routine, my son started laughing as John became the character, his delivery faultless; Still getting laughs right up until the end. A true professional.
Whatever your introduction to him, he has entertained millions over the past half century, and will continue to do so years to come. Rest in peace John Challis
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