And the winning bidders were dressed as Batman and Robin just like Del and Rodney were in this classic episode, which went out shortly before Time On Our Hands, where the watch made them millionaires
The Only Fools and Horses watch that made Del Boy and Rodders millionaires has been sold for a tidy sum in real life.
In the classic episode, Time On Our Hands, Del (Sir David Jason) and Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) finally become rich when they discover the Harrison “lesser watch” in their garage and later sell at auction for £6.2 million. Del and Rodney famously both fainted as the bidding for the watch went crazy - the episode was watched by over 24 million viewers.
In real life the BBC prop went on sale this week at Aston’s Auctioneers in Dudley, West Midlands, and sold for £28,000! It was estimated to go for just £15,000.
And the icing on the cake is that the two chaps who bought it were dressed as Batman and Robin in honour of the 1996 Christmas Day special, Heroes sand Villains, which saw Del and Rodney gatecrash a funeral dressed as the superheroes!
Time on Our Hands was also part of the 1996 festive trilogy – the other episode was Modern Men – and Del and Rodney only discover the watch is worth a packet when Raquel’s father, an antiques dealer, spots it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXIFuedsWHQ
Speaking about Time on Our Hands and how the show's creator, John Sullivan, came up with the storyline, David recalled to Gold: “Well there was a question mark, of course, that if he [Del] finds the watch and they sell it and it makes millions, the journey is complete, meaning this time next year, ‘We’ll be millionaires.”
"But then Sullivan being Sullivan said, ‘Yeah, well of course they won’t be able to keep hold of it, will they…'.”
And, of course, the pair went on in later episodes to loose all of their money. The final episode of Only Fools and Horses, Sleepless in Peckham, was shown in 2003.
Main image: PA.
