John Spurley Challis, (16 August 1942 — 17 September 2021), was a British actor best known for playing Boycie in Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass.
He worked as a trainee estate agent early in his life but soon gave it up for the Argyle Theatre for Youth. As he was 1.85m in height, was Typecast in authority roles early on, including Sergeant Culshaw in Z Cars and Detective Sergeant Phillips in Coronation Street. During a break from acting, Challis owned and worked in a garden centre, which ended up being the inspiration for the series Bloomers; Challis made a guest appearance in it as a policeman.
Challis appeared in a 1980 episode of Citizen Smith, which was written by John Sullivan. The following year, Sullivan cast Challis as the snooty car salesman Boycie in one episode of the first series of Only Fools and Horses, a role that would quickly expand in the following years. Stuck-up Boycie and his tarty wife Marlene became fan favourites, and after Only Fools came to an end in 2003, the pair were given a Spin-Off, The Green Green Grass, which aired from 2005 to 2009. Challis became an honourary citizen of Serbia thanks to the series, which was beloved over there.
Near the end of his career, he joined Benidorm in the seventh series as Monty Staines and stuck with the series until it came to an end in 2018. He also played Captain Peacock in the 2016 Are You Being Served? Revival, which wasn't picked up for a full series.
He died of cancer at the age of 79.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Series- Z Cars, 13 episodes:
- 2 episodesshow list (1967) — Detective Constable Armitage
- "The Horse Dealer: Part 1" (1971) — Desk Sergeant
- 10 episodes (1972-75) — Sergeant Frank Culshaw
- Coronation Street, 10 episodes:
- 2 episodes (1967) — George Naylor
- 8 episodes (1974-77) — Detective Sergeant Norman Phillips
- Dixon of Dock Green, episode "Obsession" (1969) — Ray
- Strange Report, episode "Report 7931: Sniper - When Is Your Cousin Not?" (1969) — Soldier
- Crossroads, 9 episodes (1971) — Jim Wright
- Whodunnit?, episode "Goodbye Sarge" (1974) — Private Rhodes
- The Sweeney, episode "Stay Lucky Eh?" (1975) — Skef Warren
- Doctor Who, 6-episode story "The Seeds of Doom" (1976) — Scorby
- Open All Hours, episode "Well Catered Funeral" (1975) — Bread Man
- The New Avengers, episode "Dirtier by the Dozen" (1976) — Soldier (Uncredited Role)
- Citizen Smith, episode "The Letter of the Law" (1980) — Chief Inspector Humphreys
- Play for Today, 3 episodes:
- "Number on End" (1980) — Victor Mintell
- "Before Water Lilies" (1981) — Harry
- "A Turn for the Worse" (1981) — Stutterer
- Only Fools and Horses, 33 episodes (1981-2003) — Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce
- Howards' Way, 2 episodesshow list (1985) — Morris
- Chance in a Million, episode "And What Shall We Do for a Ring?" (1986) — Policeman
- Roland Rat: The Series, 1 episode (1986) — Policeman
- Alas Smith and Jones, episode "Start the Show off with a Bang." (1987) — Mexican Hotel Receptionist
- Ever Decreasing Circles, episode "Half an Office" (1987) — Maintenance Man
- Wish Me Luck, 5 episodes (1988) — Victor Travussini
- The Bill, episode "Runaround" (1988) — Ian Gore
- CASUAL+Y, episode "Living Memories" (1988) — Harry
- One Foot in the Grave, episode "Beware the Trickster on the Roof" (1992) — Jack
- The New Statesman, episode "A Bigger Splash" (1992) — General Giray
- Noel's House Party, 4 episodes:
- 3 episodes (1995-97) — Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce
- "Noel's 100th House Party" (1996) — Neighbour's Husband
- Soldier Soldier, episode "Delayed Action" (1996) — Police Superintendant
- Heartbeat, episode "Where There's a Will" (1998) — Stan Fraser
- Doctors, 2 episodes:
- "Feet of Clay" (2002) — James Fletcher
- "Vapour Trail" (2015) — Freddie Prenton
- The Green Green Grass, 32 episodes (2005-09) — Herman Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce
- My Family, episode "Ho Ho No" (2007) — Jacob Marley
- Last of the Summer Wine, episode "Is Jeremy Quite Safe?" (2008) — Jeremy
- Benidorm, 15 episodes (2015-18) — Monty Staines
- Are You Being Served?, episode "You Can't Teach a New Dog Old Tricks" (2016) — Captain Stephen Peacock
- Sooty, episode "Just Desserts" (2018) — Henry Witham-Smythe
