MEMORABILIA Sitcom collectables not saved for posterity, and instead were returned to the BBC’s costume department for use in other programmes. As such, few props have survived. Yet two ‘Basil’ rodents do exist. They were brought to a 2017 Antiques Roadshow event by the wife of the puppet maker who crafted them. One was the ‘Basil’ who appeared in the biscuits tin (complete with moving head), the other the version who scuttled across the dining room floor. Valued at the time at £2,000-£3,000 each, I feel they are worth significantly more, such is the paucity of Fawlty Towers props, and the iconic nature of this episode and the series in general. “Everyone – of a certain age in particular – will remember Basil, and because the programme will go on and on, these things have value,” said Antiques Roadshow specialist Judith Miller. “They are so important in the history of comedy.” John Cleese did own a prop rodent (or was it a Siberian hamster?) but has since lost it.
Cool & Collectable 40 years since the first episode of Only Fools and Horses, Paul Fraser reveals the sitcom memorabilia to watch out for
F
our decades on from Del Boy and Rodney hitting our screens is all the excuse I need to discuss memorabilia connected with the bestloved British sitcoms. Now, British sitcom memorabilia follows a similar pattern to artefacts from big screen movies. It tends to be iconic pieces from the classic programmes of yesteryear that attract the biggest money, with prices more modest for items from the last 20 years. Let’s begin with the programme routinely voted the best British sitcom of all.
FAWLTY TOWERS
What’s your favourite Fawlty Towers episode? The Germans? The Hotel Inspectors? Basil the Rat? I’m probably in the latter camp, but to be quite honest it’s usually whichever episode I’ve watched most recently. The 12 episodes provided several iconic props: such as the hotel sign rearranged for every episode, the Moose with the broken antler, and even Basil’s brown suit. However (and this is a theme familiar to collectors of TV and film history), many of the pieces were
30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
Above 1972 Reliant Regal Supervan III sold for £36,000 in March, image courtesy of Silverstone Auctions Right Trigger’s medal for “road sweeping services” achieved £4,900 in 2019, image courtesy of East Bristol Auctions Below right The legendary cheque for £6.2m making the brothers overnight millionaires sold for £9,100, image courtesy of East Bristol Auctions
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES
Del Boy’s three-wheeler is among the most iconic cars in TV and film. The bright yellow Reliant Regal, with its leopard print interior, was something of its own character. Several were produced for filming, and they’re hugely popular at auction. Most recently an example used in the trailer for the 2001 Christmas Special, If they could only see us now, filmed in Monaco, sold for £41,625 in 2017. Another of the vehicles sold in 2007 for £44,227. And by the way, not one of Trigger’s 17 broom heads and 14 handles has ever appeared for auction, although his medal for “road sweeping services” achieved £4,900 in 2019.
