The scripts, The One With Ross’s Wedding Part I and Part II, should have been destroyed straight after filming in London decades ago, but are now in the care of Hertfordshire auction house, Hanson Ross.
Amanda Butler, head of operations at the Royston firm, said: “They were bought along to our saleroom for valuation and we were amazed. Friends fans will absolutely love these.
“They sweep us back to 1998 when Ross, Monica, Joey, Chandler and Rachel travelled to England to see Ross (David Schwimmer) marry his fiancée Emily (Helen Baxendale) in London.
“The two scripts were found at a TV studio which is no longer there. Apparently, the cast and crew were ordered to destroy their copies so the ending wouldn’t be leaked. However, these two slipped through the net.”
The auction house is guiding them at £600-£800 but given the show’s huge global appeal, a larger figure would not be surprising.
The items were discovered by chance in 1998 by a former staff member at Fountain Studios, Wembley, the place where the two Friends episodes were filmed.
The now-retired 60-year-old used to work in admin at the studios and helped distribute tickets.
The Londoner said: “I found them in a bin a couple of weeks after filming had finished. It was part of my job to ensure everything was tidy and no rubbish was left around. I remember wondering which member of the cast they might have belonged to.”
Both scripts turned up recently in a bedside drawer and were nearly dumped ahead of a house-move, before being rescued.
“I was visiting family in Hertfordshire and decided to take them for valuation at Hanson Ross. It will be exciting to see what they make at auction,” the script’s owner said.
“Funnily enough, I’m not a big Friends fan. I don’t dislike the show but I only recently watched the episodes I have the scripts for. American humour is different to ours. These scripts deserve to be owned by a big Friends fan,” they added.
American sitcom Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004 and lasted for 10 seasons.
The series finale, which aired on 6th May 6, 2004, was watched by 52.5 million American viewers.
