HANDWRITTEN DAD'S ARMY SCRIPT SET FOR AUCTION

An original handwritten Dad’s Army script uncovered on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow is now being sold at a special comedy auction in Bristol, and is expected to fetch over £5,000.

View the auction HERE.

The script, handwritten by series co-creator David Croft, is for the episode ‘Sgt - Save My Boy!’ which sees Private Pike get stranded on the mined beach of Walmington On Sea. It was recently unearthed on an episode of Antiques Roadshow, where it was revealed to have been given to a student on work-experience in the 1990s. It is now up for auction at Auctioneum Ltd in Bristol, as part of their annual British Comedy Auction to be held on New Year’s Eve.

The manuscript features 34 handwritten pages by Croft, and would have later been dictated, copied and eventually typed into rehearsal scripts for the cast and crew to use during filming. It’s accompanied by a letter from Croft which details the script and that – in his words - ‘I can write better than this but in trying to keep up with my thoughts, legibility goes out of the window!’

David Croft gifted the script to the current owner after they had completed a brief stint of work experience in Croft’s department at the BBC in the mid-nineties. The gentleman wrote a brief letter of thanks to Croft, and this letter and script were received in reply.

‘It’s a unique piece of comedy history,’ says Auctioneer Andrew Stowe ‘here we have the original ‘warts-and-all’ manuscript, direct from David Croft’s brain, put straight on the page. It’s quite remarkable!’

‘Dad’s Army is still so loved, and still regularly watched by millions of people – to have such an important part of its history is very special indeed. This particular episode was focussed on the character Private Pike, portrayed by the late Ian Lavender. Ian actually trained at the Bristol Old Vic school, just a few minutes away from our saleroom – so there is a strong local connection too,’ adds Andrew

The manuscript was filmed as part of a special TV & Film Memorabilia edition of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow broadcast earlier this year. Expert Clive Farahar inspected the script, and valued it at over £5,000.

Auctioneum’s Annual ‘British Comedy, TV & Film Auction’ takes place on December 31^st at their Bristol saleroom. The full catalogue can be viewed on their website www.auctioneum.co.uk. In-person and online bidding is welcome.