John Challis feels like a "pop star" in Serbia.
The ‘Only Fools And Horses’ actor – who played used car salesman Boycie – has been blown away by the classic BBC sitcom’s enduring popularity in the country, and he was welcomed as a hero when he visited to film new documentary series ‘Boycie In Belgrade’.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I was told it was the only thing that made them laugh during the terrible wars in the Nineties.
"I suddenly had this picture of these poor beleaguered people in bombed-out buildings watching Del Boy and the rest of the gang and laughing their heads off.
"I thought, ‘This is ridiculous’… I felt like a pop star, it was extraordinary. They kept asking me where Marlene was."
There are murals paying tribute to the programme across the city, and Djordje Rasic – the director of Belgrade’s largest hotel chain – explained why so many people turned to the show for an "escape".
He said: "Before we had the internet, they repeated ‘Only Fools And Horses’ on TV because they didn’t have anything else except news about bombing.
"So if you wanted to choose ‘Only Fools And Horses’ or bombing, we would choose ‘Only Fools And Horses’ to escape and to have a laugh during that period."
And John insisted nothing gets lost in translation in terms of the humour, and the fanbase is even more excitable because the audience don’t get to see the stars as often as those in the UK.
He added: "They get all the jokes and the catchphrases, I heard lots of ‘lovely jubbleys’ going on and humour about Trigger and Marlene.
"It’s all the usual stuff, but it’s all heightened because nobody has been there from the show so you are treated like a major celebrity because they have seen you on the telly. I kept being told we should make more shows."