'Lost' Only Fools and Horses gag comes to light

A ‘lost’ gag from one of the most memorable episodes of Only Fools and Horses has come to light, nearly 30 years on.

A  scene was written for the 1996 Heroes & Villains Christmas Special, which featured  Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin inadvertently thwart a mugging.

Later in the show the brothers encounter one of the crooks again, with Del knocking him unconscious with his suitcase full of hooky gear.

The broadcast version, seen by 21 million viewers, then cuts to Del Boy receiving a police award for his actions.

However in a scene that was cut from the original,  a policeman arrives, with Del telling him: ‘It’s alright officer, I caught him, he’s over there.’  The copper then arrests Rodney instead of the mugger.

The missing material has been revealed in script that belonged to the late Roger Lloyd Pack who played Trigger, which is going under the hammer later this month. 

Another scene that 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.

Auctioneer Andy Stowe from  Bristol-based Auctioneum described it as ‘comedy history, in black and white’.

The script has an estimate of £2,000 and £3,000. Roger Lloyd Pack had also marked his lines with black ink.

Also going under the hammer at the sale of comedy memorabilia on on June 30  are original scripts from the likes of The Goon Show, and Goodnight Sweetheart, yet another of Tommy Cooper fezzes, and a bottle of 'Cafe Rene' French table wine, gifted to cast and crew working on Allo Allo by co-writer David Croft at the end of the fifth series

There are also a number of items from the collection of Carry On star Valerie Leon , now 81, including the  hairpiece she wore in  Carry On Up The Jungle, below.

Published: 18 Jun 2025