John Challis 16 August 1942 –19 September 2021

The late John Challis was always a welcome sight on the screen. His height and commanding presence on TV often saw him cast as police officers in Z Cars or villains, such as the venial Scorby in the Fourth Doctor adventure The Seeds of Doom. He also had an extensive theatrical CV, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was a talented writer, but his most famous role was as one Herman Terrance Aubrey Boyce.

The actor once observed: “We knew that whatever else we did, however good we were in other roles, the most famous thing we’d ever do was Only Fools and Horses. It was just so big. But it was wonderful to be in something that meant so much to people.”

‘Boycie’ made his debut in Go West, Young Man, the second episode of the first series, on 15 September 1981. The plot revolved around his latest acquisition, an E Type Series III Roadster, UYP 694 M, which Henleys of London originally sold on the 11 October 1973. At the 2016 Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace, that same Jaguar was auctioned for £115,880.

Challis later reflected, “It was only an afternoon’s filming, just one scene, a very funny scene, I had no idea it would go any further than that. As it went on, it crept up on us that we were onto something special”. He had previously worked with OFAH’s creator John Sullivan on Citizen Smith, playing the almost protoBoycie Detective Chief Inspector Humphreys. The writer informed the actor, “I really like what you did with that character; I’m going to try and use it again one day”.

The role model for his untrustworthy car dealer was a gentleman Challis encountered in a bar near Twickenham Film Studios: “A real Walter Mitty, with this curious, pedantic way of talking. I always remembered it”. Boycie later featured in his own vehicle, The Green Green Grass and the character was so popular in The Balkans that Challis was made an honorary citizen of Serbia.

Perhaps the most eloquent tribute to Challis is from Mark Lawson, who praised his skill “at transmitting personality and motives through the way someone stands, walks, speaks and directs their eyes”. And as for Boycie’s finest line, it has to be: “You know it’s only E-Type Jaguar and Sebastian Coe that can make me feel proud to be British these days”.