‘Lost' scene from classic Only Fools & Horses episode emerges 29 YEARS later as scripts signed by David Jason unearthed

Scottish Sun

5 hours 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.
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The lost scene never made the final cut of the episode
Credit: BBC Press Handout
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It has been signed by several cast members and could fetch as much as £3,000
Credit: BNPS
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.
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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.
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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. Lloyd Pack marked his lines with black ink.
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The script is due to be sold at auction
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
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The lost lines were part of one of the show's Christmas specials
Credit: BBC
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Auctioneer Andy Stowe described the script as "comedy history, in black and white."
Credit: BNPS
Mr Stowe said: "As a fan of the show myself, I was flicking through the script and began to read lines of dialogue that I didn't recognise.
"As I carried on reading, I realised that these were scenes and lines that had been cut from the episode. Some of them are very funny.
"One particular partial scene that has been discovered surrounds the end of the chase between Rodney and a mugger.
"In the broadcast episode, Del Boy ends the chase by producing his suitcase from around a corner, knocking mugger unconscious.
"But, in the newly discovered script, this scene continues further. After the mugger is knocked down, a policeman arrives and Del says 'It's alright officer, I caught him, he's over there!'
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Only Fools and Horses aired for 22 years, from 1981 to 2003.
Credit: BBC
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The script belonged to the late Roger Lloyd Pack
Credit: Getty
"The policeman walks over to the two men and arrests Rodney instead of the mugger.
"There are several scenes cut from the episode that focus on the plot of the muggers.
"There was considerable work by the writer, John Sullivan, to establish the threat of them throughout the episode but most of these early scenes were cut from the final show.
"To have Roger's actual script, with his lines marked within it, is really something special.
"This is comedy history, in black and white on the page."
The vendor is a private collector who acquired the script from the Only Fools & Horses Society.
The 1996 Christmas special was watched by a record 21 million people.
The auctioneers say it as "comedy history in black and white on a page."
The sale takes place on June 30.