John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 19 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) and its sequel/spin-off The Green Green Grass (2005–2009), as well as Monty Staines from the seventh series onwards in the ITV sitcom Benidorm (2015–2018). Challis was an established stage actor, making appearances for companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Early life John Spurley Challis was born on 16 August 1942 in Clifton, Bristol, England. An only child, his family moved to Southeast London when he was one year old. He grew up in Epsom, after the family moved to Surrey. Challis attended the state boarding Ottershaw School near Woking, Surrey. His father was Alec, a civil servant with the Admiralty who became secretary to the energy minister; he was a strict disciplinarian. His mother was Joan (née Harden), a former ambulance driver who performed in amateur dramatics and taught drama in schools. After leaving school, he worked as a trainee estate agent, before he "ran away with the Argyle Theatre for Youth". Career Television and radio When offered work in television, Challis, who was tall, often found himself typecast as doctors, soldiers and police officers. His first television role was in the BBC soap opera The Newcomers in 1967. Another early television role, also in 1967 was as a thief who stole Ena Sharples' handbag in Coronation Street; he would later have a recurring role in the series as Detective Sergeant Norman Phillips from 1975 to 1977. 1969 he played in the gangster drama Big Breadwinner Hog, and between 1971 and 1975 Challis made regular appearances in Z-Cars as Sergeant Culshaw. The sitcom Bloomers (1979), starring Richard Beckinsale, was written about Challis's experience working at a garden centre while taking a break from acting. A role in the John Sullivan sitcom Citizen Smith led to Challis being cast as Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in Only Fools and Horses (1981—2003), which became his best-known role. Sullivan also created a spin-off for Challis, The Green Green Grass (2005—2009). The outdoor scenes of The Green Green Grass were filmed at his then-home at Wigmore Abbey, surrounding fields and local villages. His other television appearances include Dixon of Dock Green, Thriller, The Sweeney, Doctor Who (The Seeds