From Peckham to Benidorm: John Challis relishes conman role in TV comedy

Mr Challis, who found fame in Only Fools And Horses, has a cameo role in Benidorm.

The actor, who lives on the outskirts of Ludlow, plays a character who tries to scam people by selling them homes – then escaping with all of their dough.

Mr Challis was originally asked to feature in the show 12 months ago. However, he was unavailable for filming because his one-man show, Only Fools and Boycie, was on the road.

Producers were determined to get their man, however, and they signed him up for the present series.

He filmed episodes early last summer, while also rehearsing for the Ludlow Shakespeare Festival, and was flown out to Spain.

Mr Challis said: "Benidorm is a great series. It's a fantastic family comedy and everybody loves it. There aren't many shows on TV these days that give the audience real laugh-out-loud laughs. But Benidorm does and I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

Mr Challis will feature at 9pm on Friday and his character will also feature in a subsequent episode. He has also started talking to programme makers about featuring in next year's show, too.

Mr Challis added: "Benidorm is like no place on earth. It's a real party town."

It's a busy time for Mr Challis, who lives near Wigmore on the south Shropshire border. As well as Benidorm on Friday and an appearance at Kidderminster's Rose Theatre in his one-man show on Saturday, he'll also play The Old Rep, in Birmingham, on Sunday.

"I'm not sure why I've always been cast as policemen, henchmen or wheeler-dealer types. I think it's because I've got big eyebrows that arch right down towards my nose," he laughs.

"Even when I play panto, I'm always cast as some sort of evil character. I've got a reputation for being a good baddie. Which, I suppose, is better than being a bad goodie."

Challis very nearly featured in Benidorm 12 months ago. The programme makers were keen to fly him out to the Spanish honey-trap but the dates clashed and he had to turn them down.

"That's been the story of my life," he says. "I was once interviewed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to be the courier in their film, The Magical Mystery tour.

At the end of the meeting, Lennon just told me that they'd love me to be in the film. He said: 'Come along, we'll have a blast'. At the time, I was working for the BBC in a soap called The Newcomers. And unfortunately, the dates clashed by two days. I asked the BBC to release me and they said no. I've always regretted it."

There were no regrets about Benidorm, however. Having missed their man in 2014, the show-makers made sure he was available for this year's seventh series. They wrote a story with him in mind, too, which will feature across two episodes.

"I'm a random character that turns up. I play a property developer, a bit of a scam merchant, and Perry Benson, who plays Clive Dyke, is my victim. We did a lot of filming around a half developed set of villas in Benidorm.

"It was a typical example of what happens out there in that builders are advanced a bit of money so they can get the properties built. Then they get a British buyer who pays for a plot. But then the support is withdrawn, so the developer is left with them half-finished. The developer tries to put the price up and the British buyer ends up getting ripped off."

Challis lined up with Nadia Sawalha, who was recently evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother Household, for the episodes.

"Nadia gets fed up and bails out. She can't bear it any more, leaving my character, Monty, just running away and disappearing. Eventually he gets scammed back – I won't reveal how. But revenge is taken."

The storyline is split across two episodes and Challis is glad to be back in a big-time ITV show, having previously appeared in the most successful comedy sitcom of all-time, Only Fools and Horses, which was once watched by a still-record 24.5 million viewers.

He had great fun filming. "I'd never been to Benidorm before and it is everything that people say it is. It is so upfront and loud. It's people having a party 24-7. There are lots of hen parties, lots of stag parties.

"It's jolly. You feel as though everybody is having a good time, you know."

Challis witnessed the full-on antics for himself when he was invited to a birthday party.

"I was persuaded to dress as a white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. There was rather a long walk from the wardrobe department to this bar that we were supposed to go to, through the streets of Benidorm.

"I just thought it would be embarrassing but nobody turned a hair. Nobody gave me a second look."

Challis met show star Johnny Vegas at the bar. "Johnny is pretty indistinct most of the time, with his accent: it's 'Aldjlaoid ahdjiwo jhalkjofud'. It's hard to make out what he's saying.

"I said: 'I can't hear a word you're saying mate, shall we go outside?' So we went outside and it was even noisier in the street. So I'm looking forward to hopefully meeting again later in the year and maybe we can have a quieter conversation."

Challis is hoping to appear in the eighth series, which is scheduled to be filmed in spring. "Oh yes, I'd love to go back.

"I mean, it's a super series with a brilliant writer and crew. The actors are fantastic and it's just so funny."