Only Fools would want to miss Lowther show

If you had to associate John Challis with anything, it would probably be Boycie from Only Fools and Horses. But the actor happens to have a little known connection to Lytham.
John Challis, who is bringing his  Only Fools & Boycie show to the Lowther PavilionJohn Challis, who is bringing his  Only Fools & Boycie show to the Lowther Pavilion
John Challis, who is bringing his Only Fools & Boycie show to the Lowther Pavilion

“I’ve got a slight connection with Lytham in that my dad was in the civil service and he was seconded into an outfit that was working up there,” he said.

“The ministry of fuel or power or something, based in Lytham. So I went to see him as a kid a couple of times up there so there’s that connection.”

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And John will return to Lytham once more when he brings his Only Fools and Boycie show to the Lowther Pavilion on Wednesday, September 28.

The show, which was originally conceived on the back of his 2011 autobiography - Being Boycie - is a collection of stories and anecdotes from his career as Boycie, but also lesser known stories such as meeting the Beatles.

The 74-year-old has been performing the show for around five years, with it originally starting out as a 45-minute cruise ship show, eventually evolving to the two-hour set it is today.

Towards the end of the performance, Challis holds a Q&A session and offers people the chance to buy his autobiography or get it signed, though he jokingly stresses, “it’s not compulsory!”

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Although John made his name as Boycie, he’s also had parts in Doctor Who, Benidorm and Coronation Street over the years.
Most recently, he appeared as Captain Peacock in the remake of ‘Are You Being Served?’ An opportunity, he was honoured to be given, saying: “I was delighted because I loved the show when it first came out and was obviously a big fan of Frank Thornton who played the role originally.

“It was a bit daunting because how on Earth do you follow that man but we all had the same problem. We had to make it our own, but we had great fun doing it.”

Looking ahead to his show at the Lowther, he added: “It’s the most famous thing I’ve ever done and here we are 35 years later still talking about it. Anybody who loves the show will find it all very interesting.

“I hope that lots of people from Blackpool will come to Lytham to see it.”

For more information and tickets call 01253 794 221