Legendary actor, John Challis, is bringing his one-man show back to High Wycombe after a social media campaign by his fans.

Only Fools and Boycie is coming back to the Wycombe Swan Old Town Hall this Saturday after fans Tweeted him to bring the show back once more.  

Throughout the intimate evening, the Only Fools and Horses actor will share some of his best stories from his time on television and spill the beans on his experiences working with some of the biggest names in showbiz, including David Jason, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and George Best, to name a few.

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“The whole show is full of personal stories and it shows how I got to where I am today. It’s just me talking about my career and the people I have met along the way.

“It’s a very lively show and I've got a great story to tell and I can promise the audience a very entertaining evening.

“It’s what happened to me personally as well as things that have happened on the shows I've been in, so it’s a show for all ages. It has a long reach and I think the whole family could come along and enjoy it.”

The 72-year-old actor says there are a lot of anecdotes that go down well with audiences, but one in particular always makes people laugh.

“The one where I got interviewed by The Beatles way back in 1968 or 1969 always makes people laugh. They were doing the Magical Mystery Tour film at the time and they couldn’t cast one part in it.

“The world and his wife were going up for the part and my agent sent me up to meet them and I got the part and they wanted me to be in it but unfortunately I couldn’t do it because I promised to do something else.

“It’s one of those things that still haunts me to this day. Those memories always go down well with the audience.  And of course everybody loves the stories about Only Fools and Horses, especially what happened on the Jolly Boys Outing.”

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John has played characters in Doctor Who, The Sweeney, Soldier Solider and more recently, Benidorm, but many of his fans will always remember John as Terrence Aubrey “Boycie” Boyce, in Only Fools and Horses - something he doesn’t mind at all.

“[Boycie] opened lots of doors for me and I'm lucky enough to have been in this iconic series and to have worked with John Sullivan, who was a wonderful writer.

“The character lives on and I'm delighted that people enjoy it so much. You spend a lot of your life trying to provide something for people to really enjoy and laugh at and luckily I've been involved in that great series, so it doesn’t annoy me at all. It’s wonderful that it means so much to people.”

One of John’s happiest memories from his time on Only Fools will also feature in his show.

“There are many favourite memories but I think the best is when the show went international. We went to Miami and did a show called Miami Twice and that was terrific being in America at that time. A television company from Serbia turned up and interviewed me and I ended up going to Belgrade and appearing on a top chat show out there. It was extraordinary really; it was the only thing that made them smile during a terrible civil war they had out there.”

As well as the happy memories, John will also talk about how the death of his friend and Only Fools co-star, Roger Lloyd Pack in January 2014, affected him.

“We did lots of things together, charity shows and poetry readings and things like that. I spent fifteen years of my life working with him; we were pretty constantly in touch.

“He supported Spurs, I supported Arsenal so we were great rivals in that area but it was a complete shock. Nobody knew how ill he was. I actually spoke to him two days before he died and I had no idea it was going to happen because he didn’t tell anyone. It was a complete shock to me and I think to everyone else.

“We were all stunned for a couple of days. A lot of people ask if there will be any more Only Fools but I think it would be pretty difficult to go on without him.

“There are a lot of people missing now, Buster Merryfield (Uncle Albert) and Lennard Pearce (Grandad) and Kenneth MacDonald (Mike Fisher the barman) and of course John Sullivan and I don’t think it would be quite the same without so many members of the family.”

As well as sharing his life experiences, John holds a Q&A session so he can interact with his fans more personally.

 “I never forget that it’s those people who put us where we are and changed our lives. It’s nice to have that contact and it’s nice that people are interested in the stories along the way so it’s quite a pleasure to have that contact with your audience.“

Despite being in the acting business for over fifty years, John admits that he finds acting on television hard.

“Stage is what I first fell in love with and I guess I feel most at home on stage. I find television really difficult because you have to concentrate really hard. On stage, you have much more freedom of expression and I think that’s why I prefer theatre.

“I'm very lucky to have been able to perform in both mediums but I do feel most comfortable on the stage.”

Even though he loves being on stage, John admits he still gets nervous going out in front of the audience.

“You know the stories that work but every audience is completely different and every audience reacts in a different way. You hope it goes well and hope they enjoy it as much as the last one, but it’s just you on the stage. It’s one thing being an actor and learning somebody else’s words, but these are actually your own words. In some ways, you’re like a stand up comic. You’re on your own and telling your story and you just hope that people find it interesting and enjoy it.”

As well as being an accomplished actor, John is a keen writer, having published two volumes of his autobiography and fictional novels and John will be signing copies of them after the show.

“Writing fiction is much more difficult because you have to invent things. I found writing my autobiography much easier because it’s all my own memories and things that have happened along the way.

“It is my life story and it’s a very cathartic thing to think about all the decisions you’ve made and mistakes you’ve made and you wish you could go back and do things differently I suppose.”

Only Fools and Boycie comes to the Wycombe Swan on Saturday 28 February. Tickets are £15, available online at www.wycombeswan.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01494 512 000.