John Challis Interview

 

John - Hi John first of all thank you for talking to us today.

 

 

John - When you were growing up what were the TV shows that got you hooked watching them?

John Challis -​ I was born in 1942 and we didn't have a television when I was growing up.I remember watching the Queen's Coronation in 1953 on a very small set rigged up in the Village Hall in Tadworth,Surrey.We must have got a telly soon after that because I watched Educating Archie which was the first time I'd ever seen a ventriloquist and I was fascinated.The first programme that made me sit up and take notice was That Was The Week That Was with David Frost.It was groundbreaking stuff. 
 

 

John - When did you first realise that you wanted to work in the world of television?

 

John Challis -​ I ran away with a travelling children's theatre group at the time when television was the 'coming thing'.The great break through,so of course all of us in the world of repertory theatre aspired to make the leap and be the first to 'do telly'.

 

 

John - Do you remember ur first day working on a TV show, what was the show and how did ur first day go?

 

John Challis -​ My first television part was Harry Kapper in The Newcomers,filmed in Birmingham and one of the first soap operas.The first day was very exciting,like your first day at a new school.Full of anxiety,excitement and trepidation! Meeting new people and seeing all that new technology, I was quite nervous.The Director had a bit of a job trying to get me to come down from my usual theatrical performance to the stillness needed for television.

 

 

John - Over the years you have worked on many TV shows playing a wide range of parts from Sgt. Culshaw in Z Cars, Scorby In Doctor who to Boycie in Only Fools and Horses, Which TV shows have you enjoyed working on the most?

 

John Challis -​ It has to be Dr.Who and |The Seeds of Doom.A great bunch of actors including Tom Baker,Liz Sladen and Tony Beckley.I loved the Director Douglas Canfield and he must have liked me because he was one of the only Directors who hired me twice!And, of course,Only Fools and Horses,written by the greatest comedy writer of all time,John Sullivan.Again,a cast of actors who all worked perfectly together. 
 

 

John - When did you first hear about Only Fools and Horses and what did you think about the other members of the cast when you first heard who you will be working with?

 

John Challis -​ I was in New York when I got the phone call.My agent said I'd been offered a part in a new comedy written by the same man who had done Citizen Smith.Sullivan had liked my policeman in that and said he'd like to follow him up sometime.So two years later I found myself flying back to London to do one episode of his new series Only Fools and Horses.I thought it was a strange title !The only actor I knew was David Jason because I'd worked with him on Open All Hours.I hadn't worked with any of the others but I knew their work.

 

 

John - What were your thoughts when you first read the Only Fools and Horses script?

 

John Challis - I laughed out loud at the situations and the words and that's very rare these days! 
 

 

John - The Green Green Grass gave Boycie a fresh start what was it like taking the character out of Only Fools and Horses heading out from Peckham to a rambling farmhouse in Shropshire?

 

John Challis - Sue Holderness and I were overjoyed when Sullivan asked us if we would like to do a spin off from Only Fools and Horses. He'd always loved the characters and wanted to explore their relationship further, but he couldn't think of a reason why they should leave Peckham.Then he remembered the Driscoll Brothers and came up with the idea that Boycie had 'grassed'em up' and that's why he and Marlene had to disappear. The Green Green Grass was the happiest of jobs because I was working with Sue Holderness again,we were heading a cast of very good actors,Sullivan was writing the script and the location filming was done at my home and in the surrounding countryside! 
 

 

John - Who influenced you in your career?

 

John Challis - I've always loved the Hollywood greats and I particularly admired James Stewart and Marlon Brando.Theatrical giants Sir Donald Wolfitt,Laurence Olivier and Paul Schofield were the inspiration for some of my performances and my pantomime appearances for the last 22 years certainly bear that out!

 

 

John - Over the years who has been the most famous person you have worked with or met?

 

John Challis - The most famous people I've worked with must be Tom Baker in Doctor Who and Mandy Patinkin in Guys and Dolls.I'd LIKE to work with the actors on NCIS and CSI,Law and Order SVU.All those tremendous ,slick well crafted US crime shows.Person of Interest is the latest.Great stuff.The most famous people I've met would be WW2 Spitfire ace Geoffrey Wellum,the Duchess of Cornwall,Jack Palance  and Tom Selleck!     
 

 

John - Has anything funny ever happened or gone wrong while filming live that you remember and how did you react and carry on?

 

John Challis - On Dr.Who I did my own stunt as Scorby when I had to flee the Krynoid by running into a pond.Mistake! It got me and I drowned.It was midwinter and freezing cold.The water was slimy and muddy and I'm not a great swimmer.I managed to drag myself out but the Director shouted 'We'll have to go again.The camera slipped down the bank.' And I had to do it all over again.I got a bottle of brandy for my troubles! 
 

 

John - What projects are you currently working on and where can your fans see you next?

 

John Challis - My debut novel REGGIE. Stag At Bay has just come out and I'm busy doing interviews and book signings.It's the first of a series and I've started writing Book 2.I'm also taking out my show called Only Fools and Boycie,An Evening with...  I'm doing some  more dates with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Road Show LIVE! as The Voice of the Book.I'm in pantomime at the Stockport Plaza this Christmas ,playing King Rat in Dick Whittington and early next year I'll be doing a 20 date tour of Only Fools and Boycie.What I'd REALLY like to do is a straight part in a gritty crime drama but those things don't come my way.Directors don't seem able to see past Boycie or realise that I can actually play other parts! But of course you can read all about these things and more in my two part autobiography  Being  Boycie and Boycie and Beyond.  Signed copies of these titles and REGGIE can be ordered from my website   www.wigmorebooks.com  and go to the events page for a list of venues and dates for shows and signings.

 

 

John - Thank you for talking to us today John it means allot to us.