ONLY Fools and Horses star John Challis plans to treat his wife to a railway-themed date at the Steam Museum when he visits the town with his new one-man show.

The 73-year-old will take his autobiographical Only Fools and Boycie show to the Arts Centre on November 6 and town tourist John has a few items to tick off his sightseeing list.

“I’m intrigued that Swindon has one of the finest art collections in the UK so I’ll definitely want to check that out," he said.

"I’m also fascinated by the railways and the history of it.

"Swindon was so important to all of that so I’ll definitely take the wife along to the Steam museum."

Terrance Aubrey Boyce, known as Boycie, became the nation’s favourite dodgy used car dealer when he first appeared on the second episode of Only Fools - Go West Young Man - and quickly became a household name, thanks to his derisive humour and machine-gun laugh.

And fans of the four-times married television stalwart can expect nothing but searing honesty in the two-hour show, as John recounts his battle to reach the big time and to find eternal love.

“I think people will be surprised because they don’t know everything that I have done, I’ve been in theatre, pantomime and other TV series so this a chance to talk about that as well as Only Fools which, of course, I am so proud of,” John said.

Fans are set for a few surprises during the show with Bristol-born John recounting how he trained as an estate agent before deciding to tread the boards, against his father’s wishes.

He said: “I just started mucking about so I didn’t last very long in the job. I always knew I wanted to be an actor though and I think it’s the whole becoming someone else that I was attracted to.

"My father didn’t want me to get involved in all of that but I persevered.”

John started his career in repertory theatre and made the step into television with his part in 1970s drama Z Cars, before his 1981 debut in Only Fools and Horses.

The iconic British comedy, which drew more than 20 million viewers for the Time On Our Hands episode, made stars out of the main cast and supporting characters.

“There will be lots of tales about Only Fools because it changed all our lives, it gave us all so much, it gave us our entire lives,” he said.

The acting veteran said he couldn’t be less like his cigar wielding, poker playing alter-ego and prefers a spot of gardening rather than strutting around a used car lot.

He said: “Hopefully people will see I’m not like Boycie at all, and enjoy the show. It is something different and I hope they’ll enjoy learning more about me.”

For Only Fools and Boycie tickets visit swindontheatres.co.uk or to buy John’s autobiography, Being Boycie, visit www.wigmorebooks.co.uk.