Yahoo News Antiques Roadshow audience wowed by handwritten Dad's Army script
One lucky guest of the Antiques Roadshow learned he could own £10,000 worth of sitcom history thanks to his Dad's Army memorabilia.
What did you miss?
The live audience of this week's Antiques Roadshow episode were left gasping in shock when the owner of a handwritten script for the classic sitcom Dad's Army learned he could possibly sell the item for as much as £10,000.
Books and manuscripts expert Clive Farahar, however, made it clear that he wasn't completely sure of his valuation. He said that putting a cash figure on the script was "the most difficult thing because I don't think I've got anything to compare it with".
The script belonged to Dad's Army writer David Croft and contained original ideas for the 1970 episode 'Sgt – Save My Boy!', in the comedy legend's own handwriting.
What, how and why?
Farahar was very impressed by the script, which the owner explained came into his hands when he took part in a work placement at the BBC's comedy department in the 1990s. He had worked with Croft and sent him a letter of thanks, to which Croft posted him the script in return.
The manuscript for the episode — in which the hapless Pike became tangled in barbed wire next to a minefield — is annotated with Croft's own notes. These unique touches played a big part in Farahar's valuation, which he put at between £5,000 and £10,000.
"These pieces of paper are probably terribly rare. I can't imagine that there are any more around really," said Farahar. "These would all be typed up and all the actors would have a copy. They'd all make their own notes on it and all that sort of thing. Whereas this, the original nugget from which the whole thing came, was just completely discarded."
He explained that his big money valuation was actually quite low for the rarity of the document and said that "this is where the heart of Dad's Army is".
What else happened on Antiques Roadshow?
Elsewhere on Sunday's episode, Farahar struggled to value an Arnold Schwarzenegger photo collection, ultimately telling its owner that the photos could fetch approximately £2,000. There was also sports memorabilia from the worlds of both football and boxing, with the latter including various signed Muhammad Ali items worth around £3,000.
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