Two original scripts from the season four finale of Friends have been uncovered from a bin. For fans, they are priceless pieces of cultural history, but to the anonymous former admin support worker who popped them in his drawer and forgot about them, they were very nearly rubbish.
The scripts are for The One With Ross' Wedding, where he was set to marry in Emily in London but ended up saying Rachel's name at the alter instead. Rumour has it all of the original scripts were meant to be destroyed so that the big twist (Ross saying 'I take thee Rachel') remained a secret.
Not only that, but apparently there was a time when season four was supposed to have a different ending entirely. In his book Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era, Saul Austerlitz wrote that the show's creators considered having the six friends move to Minnesota at the end of season four. Apparently, the plan was to have Chandler move to the new state for work, and the rest of the gang would eventually follow.
This would have, of course, meant entirely new sets, lots of new characters and all of the friends getting different jobs. They even thought about reshooting the opening credits in front of a frozen fountain. In the end, they went in a different direction and the idea was revisited in season nine when Chandler briefly worked part-time in Tulsa.
However, the newly rediscovered original scripts tell the story we know and love. They are now being put up for auction and expect to fetch upwards of £800. A retired admin support worker, who used to work at Fountain Studios in Wembley, found the scripts in his drawer as he was clearing things out to move house. 'It was part of my job to ensure everything was tidy and no rubbish was left around,' said the 60-year-old, who used 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.'
However, after leaving his job in 1999, he 'swept everything into a big cardboard box' while clearing out his desk and clumped the scripts together with a big pile of paperwork. Two months later, he remembered the scripts were there and put them in his bedside table – where they have been ever since.
'I could have quite easily thrown them out,' he admitted. 'Recently I've been clearing my house ahead of a move and I came across them again.' On a recent visit to see family in Hertfordshire, the former employee decided to take the scripts for valuation at the Hanson Ross auctioneers in Royston.
It's not clear who the scripts belonged to originally, though they have the name John Lanzer on them (a British set designer thought to have worked on the wedding episodes).
The auction house's head of operations, Amanda Butler, said she was 'amazed' when she saw the scripts. '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 and Jennifer Saunders,' she told Sky News.
While bidding starts at £800, Amanda thinks they could fetch much more, especially because of the surge of interest in the show following Matthew Perry's tragic death in October.
'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.
'We've definitely had higher bids already, it's going to be one to watch,' she said, and she has asked potential bidders to register online as they anticipate their phone lines being very busy.
The unnamed 60-year-old who accidentally saved and rescued the scripts said they 'deserve to be owned by a huge Friends fan', and admitted that does not include himself.
Nikki Peach is news and entertainment writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and current affairs.