John Challis has urged people to give Only Fools and Horses The Musical' a chance.
John Challis
The 76-year-old actor - who starred as Aubrey 'Boycie' Boyce in the long-running BBC television comedy series and spin-off 'The Green Green Grass' - is "angry" over bad reviews of the new stage production, which opened at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket last week, and urged fans of the classic show to go and see it for themselves rather than accept the verdict of critics.
John told the Daily Star newspaper: "A little bit of research (from some reviewers) wouldn't have gone astray.
"It's like they have been written by a child. It makes me angry. Go and see for yourselves, people."
And John thinks show creator John Sullivan - who passed away in 2011 - would be "proud" of the musical, because he had "always talked" about creating a stage show out of the beloved programme.
He added: "John Sullivan would be proud because it was something he always talked about. He always talked about doing a stage show and a musical he had lots of plans but unfortunately he got ill and passed away.
"It's something he always wanted to do but it was difficult to get together with us because we had to get tied up for about a year and I don't think David Jason particularly did want to do that for obvious reasons.
"And if you've got to sign a contract for a long time, it depends on where your life is and you know, if you want to go on tour and you're not living anywhere particularly and you don't have a family to look after than touring is very good but if you've got a lot of responsibilities then it's hard to go away for a year."
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