Letter: Gawn Grainger obituary
Gawn Grainger and I got to know each other well in the mid-1990s, during the filming and subsequent theatre run of Julian Mitchell's Welsh relocation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, entitled August.
As a schoolboy I had seen most of Gawn's National Theatre appearances – I particularly loved his slimy aristocrat Oronte in Molière's The Misanthrope.
A fierce and unwavering champion of my only play, Bitter With a Twist, he gave it an early reading with Brian Cox at the Bush theatre in London. As a result, the Bristol Old Vic staged it in 1999 and Faber published it. Gawn never lost his extraordinary humility and bonhomie. Everything was possible, nothing was off-limits.
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an hour ago
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A "LOST" scene from a classic episode of Only Fools & Horses has emerged 29 years later. It was written into the script of the "Heroes & Villains" episode of 1996 but never made it into the final cut. 7 7 The Christmas special is better known for Del and Rodney dressing up as Batman and Robin to inadvertently thwart a mugging. But there was also an extended scene involving Del later chasing down a mugger and knocking him unconscious with his suitcase full of hooky gear. In the cut scene, it is scripted that a policeman then arrives and Del tells him "It's alright officer, I caught him, he's over there!" But the policeman then walks over to the two men and arrests Rodney instead of the mugger. The missing scene has emerged in a working script that belonged to the late Roger Lloyd Pack who played Trigger. The 155 page script is coming up for sale at Bristol-based Auctioneum. Auctioneer Andy Stowe described it as "comedy history, in black and white." Mr Stowe, a self-confessed Only Fools & Horses fan, said he started finding lines that he didn't recognise while reading through the script. Another scene written into the script that also never made it into the episode involves Del and Rodney rushing out of their flat just as a consignment of dodgy alarm clocks go off. They go to Del's Capri Ghia to find the group of muggers loitering around it but they are scared off as Del and Rodney arrive to the noise of the alarms going off in the background. Only Fools and Horses & Miami Vice star dies aged 78 after long illness Mr Stowe said the muggers - one of whom was played by the actress Sheree Murphy - appeared to have a whole story arc that got cut out. The script has been signed by other members of the cast including David Jason, who played Del Boy, and the late John Challis, who played snobby secondhand car dealer Boycie. It is estimated to sell for between £2,000 and £3,000. 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