Two scripts from popular US sitcom Friends are up for auction in Hertfordshire – 25 years after they were found in a bin.
It’s believed the scripts for both parts of The One With Ross’ Wedding were meant to be destroyed to keep season four’s famous finale – in which Ross says the wrong name at the altar – a secret.
While their value has been estimated at up to £800, the auctioneer has told Sky News it has already had higher bids and is running out of phonelines ahead of Friday’s sale due to the amount of interest.
Both episodes were filmed and set in London and the scripts were found a couple of weeks after all the scenes had been wrapped up at Fountain Studios in Wembley by a now-retired Londoner in 1998.
“It was part of my job to ensure everything was tidy and no rubbish was left around,” said the 60-year-old, who worked in admin support and helped to distribute tickets for the studio audience.
“I wasn’t sure what to do with them so just put them in my office drawer. I remember wondering which member of the cast they might have belonged to.”
He left his job in 1999 and “swept everything into a big cardboard box” when clearing his desk, admitting he forgot the scripts were among the pile of paperwork.
After two months, he checked through the box and remembered the scripts, which he put into his bedside drawer – where they have been ever since.
Part of the script. Pic: Hanson Ross
“I could have quite easily thrown them out,” he said.
“Recently I’ve been clearing my house ahead of a move and I came across them again.”
While visiting family in Hertfordshire recently, he decided to take the scripts for valuation at auctioneers Hanson Ross, in Royston.
While it’s not clear who the scripts belonged to, they have the name John Lanzer on them, who was a British set designer.
A ticket for the studio audience. Pic: Hanson Ross
The firm’s head of operations, Amanda Butler, said they were “amazed” when they saw what he had brought in.
“It’s an iconic pair of episodes, not only were they shot in London but they included Fergie [Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York], Hugh Laurie, Jennifer Saunders,” she told Sky News.
Part of the surge of interest in the items, she believes, is down to Matthew Perry’s death, who played loveable Chandler Bing in the show.
“Friends has been back in the news and I think that a whole generation of young people have started to watch it, so it’s having a resurgence,” she said.
The scripts come with a set of DVDs and a keyring that the vendor says was given to production staff. Pic: Hanson Ross
The auctioneers estimate they could go for between £600-£800, but Ms Butler said the show’s global appeal is so huge that “who knows where the hammer may fall”.
“We’ve definitely had higher bids already, it’s going to be one to watch,” she said, adding that they’re asking potential bidders to register online rather than call their swamped phonelines.
The unnamed 60-year-old discoverer said the scripts “deserve to be owned by a huge Friends fan”, as he admitted he’s not crazy about the show.
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“I don’t dislike the show, but I only recently watched the episodes I have the scripts for, American humour is different to ours,” he said.
“It will be exciting to see what they make at auction.”
The auction can be watched live on the Hanson Ross website on Friday, with the scripts expected at around midday.
