Wolverhampton Literature Festival: John Challis leaves city in stitches
Only Fools and Horses star John Challis had the audience in the palm of his hand at Wolverhampton Literature Festival – as soon as he uttered the word ‘Marlene’.
The actor, who played Boycie in the show, kicked off the annual event with his highly-anticipated talk at Bantock House Museum yesterday.
WATCH footage from John Challis' talk:
And he couldn’t hide his love for the city he was in, or the fact that he was now – as he put it – a ‘West Midlander’.
The 75-year-old, who lives in Wigmore Abbey, Herefordshire, with wife Carol and cat Mortimer, said: “I’m flattered to be asked to be here. I’m very fond of Wolverhampton – very fond of the theatre.
“I played at the Grand a few times and it really is one of my favourite theatres, and I’m not just saying that. It really is.”
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Speaking proudly to a packed out audience, the star delighted visitors with tales about his career, his autobiography Being Boycie and his first novels that inspired the TV Series The Green Green Grass.
He also chatted about being a patron of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, his beloved garden, and his passion for old buildings.
John said: “Only Fools and Horses was the luckiest thing to ever happen to me. I started in children’s theatre, then the rep, and I was an actor.
“But I had all these experiences doing my shows, and that’s what started my writing. It became an autobiography.
“It took two years to do, and was agony, but I love telling the stories.”
John Lennon
The actor captured the crowd with tales of how he swapped fast-paced London living for getting stuck behind tractors in the Herefordshire countryside, and even recalled the time he met Beatles star John Lennon while trying to get a part on the band’s Magical Mystery Tour.
He said: “Me and John Lennon had something in common. We both loved the Goon Show and we were sitting there swapping Goon Show voices.
“John then asked me if I had a favourite Beatles song. And I said something that still embarrasses me to this day. I said I preferred the Rolling Stones.
“But John Lennon said ‘you know what, you’re right’. And I got the job. But unfortunately I couldn’t actually do it in the end as the dates clashed with The Newcomers. So that’s quite a sad story really.”
The star kept the audience beaming until the very end, when he eagerly took questions from the crowd.
John played dodgy second-hand car dealer Boycie in Only Fools and Horses, where he coined the catchphrase ‘Marlene’, who was the character’s long suffering wife.
One man asked if he would welcome the return of the show, to which his reply was: “I think we’re all a bit old.”
Trigger's broom
And when questioned over whether he had ever been unable to complete a scene due to laughing too much, he had the audience roaring while describing how it took the cast 10 takes to finish Trigger’s famous broom scene.
“We had to have a dressing down from producers,” he laughed.
Following the talk, the star met audience members, posed for photos, and signed books – even scrawling in a birthday card or two for fans who were unable to be there.
Alan Driscoll, aged 68, with son Dean, 32, had travelled from Manchester for the hour-long talk.
Dean said: “It was really good. We’re huge Only Fools and Horses fans. I only found it through searching for conventions. It was a bit of an accident but I was so glad to come across it.”
Jim Duncan, from Wolverhampton Civic Centre, introduced John and said it was a ‘great start to the festival’.
He said: “It was fantastic. People are put off by the word literature but love the word festival.
“They don’t realise that it’s someone talking who is extremely eloquent describing their life.”
The festival takes place at venues across the city for the remainder of the weekend, with talks from poets, singers and authors.
