Over The Moon... and under the hammer

Script of an untransmitted sitcom pilot from Only Fools And Horses creator John Sullivan up for auction

comedy The script of an untransmitted comedy pilot by Only Fools And Horses writer John Sullivan is being auctioned on eBay.

Over The Moon starred Brian Wilde – best known as Foggy from Last of the Summer Wine – as an ineffectual football club manager.

Sullivan wrote the script between Citizen Smith and Only Fools, with a pilot recorded at Television Centre in London in November 1980.

However, BBC One controller Bill Cotton decided not to proceed with the series, partly because Citizen Smith star Robert Lindsay was about to star in another sport-based sitcom, Seconds Out, set in the world of boxing.

The 61-page pilot script of Over The Moon is from the collection of Felix Bowness, who played jockey Fred Quilley in Hi-de-Hi! He was also an in-demand warm-up man who worked at the recording and scribbled notes on the cover page

Other members of the cast included Wexford’s George Baker and Emmerdale’s Paula Tilbrook. It was produced by Ray Butt, who went on to work with John Sullivan on Only Fools and Horses.

In 2019, a script for the Only Fools And Horses Heroes and Villains Christmas special, in which Del and Rodney dressed as Batman and Robin, fetched £4,200 at auction.

The eBay auction runs until Sunday June 4 here.

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Published: 29 May 2023