Only Fools and Horses lost script uncovers Del Boy joke cut from final episode

Only Fools and Horses fans have been given a new glimpse into the show’s writing history after an unearthed script surfaced with a Del Boy joke that was cut from the final broadcast. The BBC sitcom, first aired in 1981, has remained a long-running favorite featuring Del Boy (David Jason) and Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) in schemes to get rich. The newly discovered manuscript is being sold by a former production team member and is expected to raise £2,000. It references the 1996 Christmas episode about Del Boy flogging a pocket watch, where the deleted line was meant to say, to Rodney, that they had “cleaned it with a bit of Brasso.” The script also includes additional dialogue for Boycie (John Challis) after Rodney uses a Sotheby’s cheque for £6.2 million; an alternate tag has Boycie instructing Rodney to sit down before offering him a drink. The article adds that the episode holds the record for the most-watched sitcom installment in UK history at 24.3 million viewers and notes other cut material from the same Christmas trilogy.