Anonymous buyer forks out £33k for Two Ronnies script

THE TWO RONNIES’ handwritten script for the classic ‘Four Candles’ sketch has sold at auction for £33,000.

The scene, first aired by the BBC in 1976, features Ronnie Barker trying to buy handles for garden forks from a shop worker played by Ronnie Corbett. The latter misunderstands and pulls four candles out of a drawer.

The original script, penned by Barker himself and officially titled “Annie Finkhouse?”, was offered by East Bristol Auctions on Friday with a guide price of £25,000 to £40,000.

There were five bids and the hammer went down at £28,000 – with the final price hitting £33,000 after fees were included. The buyer remains anonymous.

The price paid is considerably less than the £48,500 that secured the script in 2007 after it appeared on an episode of Antiques Roadshow the year before.

Andrew Stowe, from East Bristol Auctions, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled – to achieve such a result for an iconic piece of British comedy history is just wonderful.”