I’m sure you’ve enjoyed reading the excellent Being Boycie. This is an Autobiography of John Challis who played Boycie in Only Fools and Horses. We are now treated to a further trip Beyond Boycie ! Well actually its called Boycie & Beyond. Another insightful look into the wonderful actor John Challis and his life of acting and many anecdotes he’s picked up along the way.
Of course John is known for several other characters in his past, but none will surpass the OFAH and Green Green Grass Boycie. More recent years have seen 4 series of the sitcom spin off with Sue Holderness who plays Marlene. We decided to catch up with John to find out what this new autobiographic release has in store for the fans of the sitcom on its September 20th 2012 release date.
EXCLUSIVE BOYCIE INTERVIEW
OFAH.net .Was it easy writing the 2nd book as a natural progression from Being Boycie,or does Boycie and Beyond offer something different?
JOHN. It just carries on seamlessly! More of the same really, but I found it very nostalgic recalling my childhood and emotional describing my relationship with my father.Mercifully my short term memory seems to be intact and the closer I get to 2012 the easier it is to recall events. As I’ve got older and am approaching 70 I am aware how much more complicated life is now and how comparitively easy things used to be.
OFAH.net .Will there be any more OFAH ‘gems’ for fans of the show?
JOHN. Yes, I think there are some good stories about several of the shows. Jolly Boy’s Outing, From Prussia with Love, To Hull and Back and Heroes and Villains feature in anecdotes that have stuck in my mind, and of course, there are some personal bits that you won’t find in the info books!
OFAH.net .What was the most’ cringeworthy’ section of the book?
JOHN. Probably describing the breakdown of my third marriage. My pride was hurt enormously,but I also beat myself up thinking it was my fault. My failure to work at relationships.It was the lowest point of my life and was a total betrayal by two people I trusted and I’ve found it difficult to trust anyone since.
OFAH.net .How long did it take to write both books?
JOHN. About a year in both cases.I’ve been jotting things down for some time so I was able to elaborate on each theme. Boycie and Beyond has been easier because I took myself off to Hawaii for three months where I sat on a beach without any interruption; no phones,no papers,no radio,no television.It was wonderful!
OFAH.net .Can you give us a short excerpt to whet our appetite?
JOHN. To Hull and Back,like all subsequent Only Fools Christmas shows,was more lavish in production terms than a normal episode. It was filmed entirely on location,with even a bit of foreign travel-if you call Holland foreign-though Boycie never got to go there. It was also one of the few episodes with no studio work,therefore with no live audience,with the result that at 90 minutes it looks more like a movie than a TV show. It was a great show to make.Part of it, in which Boycie wasn’t involved,was shot on location in Amsterdam,and the rest was shot in Hull. For convenience,the BBC had built sets of The Nag’s Head in an old warehouse up there,and it felt strange not to be in our regular studios with an audience boosting us with their enthusiastic response. The film unit had a great time in the hotel in Hull.With the whole team there this was probably the first time we saw just how big Only Fools was becoming. On the second day I found Nicholas Lyndhurst in the middle of a beastly concrete shopping mall being besieged by adoring women of a certain age. When we went out to find somewhere to play pool one evening,every time we found a possible venue,crowds would gather, this long before mobile phones and Twitter had entered our consciousness. Quite often at hotel windows we’d see gatherings of scantily dressed women waving up at us,and we noticed a slight genuflection in the attitude of the staff. A film crew away from home is inclined to behave badly and this adulation encouraged us to think we could get away with anything.
Thanks John for the insight and amazing memories recalled in these great books. We really look forward to reading more on September 20th
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Book Launch details for Boycie & Beyond can be found here including an exclusive pre-order prize.
Even if you live far away call the store today and pay over the Phone and pay P&P at Half Price and we will send on SIGNED copy on publication date.
I thought the first book, ‘Being Boycie,’ was midleading. It should’ve been called ‘Becoming Boycie,’ as it was all about his pre-OFAH life (infact, I think OFAH was only mentioned once towards then end, although don’t quote me on that!) I’m sure this second book will really be the winner, as it will deal with the things we actually want to know. I think it would have been better to have waited a year, and compiled all 3 books (I read somewhere this was a trilogy??) into one book. No idea why it’s split, can only think it’s for sales reasons.
Makes sense that the sequal to this book is called ‘Boycie and Beyond’ as I’m sure we’ll read all about John Challis playing Boycie and where he went post 1996 & 2003.
I just made my mind up to buy ‘Being Boycie’ and then noticed he’s released a SECOND book inside a year?
Bit unusual but no complaints. Every Fools fans loves to read up on rare anecdotes.
Would love Sir Dave, Nicholas Lyndhurst et al to release a book sometime soon.
Cheers, John and OFAH.net for this.