Two Ronnies script up for auction

The Two Ronnies first worked together in 1965

The handwritten script of The Two Ronnies' famous Fork Handles sketch could fetch up to £80,000 at auction.

The script, penned by the late Ronnie Barker in the 1970s, went on to be voted the greatest Two Ronnies sketch in a TV special.

The highest bid for the script currently stands at £32,500, while the invitation for written bids closes on 20 December.

The script first came to light in 2006 on BBC One's The Antiques Roadshow.

Authentic

The sketch features Ronnie Corbett as a shopkeeper who becomes irritated by workman Ronnie Barker with his requests for items with double meanings.

It includes the classic opener where Corbett produces four candles when Barker insists he actually wanted fork handles.

The script is credited to Barker's pseudonym Gerald Wiley

The sketch is written on four sides of A4 lined paper in red ink and features the sketch's original title, Annie Finkhouse.

After its discovery on the Antiques Roadshow, the privately-owned script was taken to Corbett who confirmed its authenticity on television earlier this year.

"It was quite sweet for me to see his handwriting again," he said.

Barker died in 2005. His widow does not have a handwritten copy of Fork Handles but has said she is happy for the piece to be sold.

Barker first worked with Corbett in The Frost Report and Frost on Sunday, programmes for which he also wrote scripts. In 1971 they teamed up for the first Two Ronnies.

A total of 12 series of the comedy show were made.

At its peak, more than 17 million viewers tuned in to see the programme, which aired until 1987. The duo reunited for The Two Ronnies Sketchbook shortly before Barker's death.