Four candles sell for £48,500

Unknown buyer for Barker script

Ronnie Barker’s handwritten script for the classic Four Candles sketch sold for £48,500 yesterday.

The four-page A4 script, written in red ink, was sold in an online auction for well over the £30,000 reserve price.

It’s not known who brought the documents, which was written under Barker's alias Gerald Wiley and contained several corrections and scribbles.

Officially titled Annie Finkhouse, the script turned up last year on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, and Ronnie Corbett later confirmed it was genuine.

Peter Spicer from the Original Memorabilia Company, which conducted the sale, said: ‘The Two Ronnies are a national institution and Ronnie Barker, a comedy genius.

‘To say this is the television equivalent of Lennon's lyrics to Imagine would not be an unreasonable comparison.’

Here is the sketch:

Published: 21 Dec 2007

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