The original typed script has been donated by Manningtree actor David Webb, who starred in the classic sitcom, for Griff Rhys Jones’ Celebrity Bottom Drawer auction.

East Anglian Daily Times: Griff Rhys Jones is auctioning off unusual items for Celebrity Bottom Drawer. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH)Griff Rhys Jones is auctioning off unusual items for Celebrity Bottom Drawer. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH) (Image: Archant)

MORE: Celebrity Griff Rhys Jones starts quirky auction to help Ipswich children’s hospiceGriff, who lives in Suffolk, is selling off unusual items donated by his celebrity friends to help East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) as it faces an “extremely challenging and uncertain” year during coronavirus.

The comic, who rose to fame with Not The Nine O’Clock News and as one half of the Smith and Jones double act, usually organises an annual Christmas show at Ipswich’s Regent Theatre to raise funds for the charity.

That cannot go ahead this year due to Covid-19, so he has enlisted his network of celebrity friends - including Ant and Dec, Ralph Fiennes, David Walliams, David Tennant and Joanna Lumley - to rummage through their drawers for donations to support the auction.

Webb, who played Stanley Matthews in Hi-de-Hi! - who was the identical twin of Bruce Matthews, played by David’s brother, Tony - has dug out a script for Orphan of the Storm, an episode recorded in November 1986.

East Anglian Daily Times: Manningtree actor David Webb has donated this script from Hi-de-Hi for Griff Rhys Jones' Celebrity Bottom Drawer auction. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH)Manningtree actor David Webb has donated this script from Hi-de-Hi for Griff Rhys Jones' Celebrity Bottom Drawer auction. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH) (Image: Archant)

“I remember the episode very well,” said Webb.

WATCH: Tom Hollander helps Ipswich children’s hospice with quirky donations“Poor, old Peggy had been sacked by Joe Maplin’s hatchet man, Alec Foster.

“When we got the message that Maplin had overruled Foster we all rushed to the station - Manningtree as it happens, standing in for the Crimpton-on-Sea station - to tell Peggy the good news and my brother and I carried Peggy shoulder-high to our open back lorry to return to the camp.

“As we did so Foster arrived at the station to return to London, saw that we had rescued the situation and called us all b******s.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Griff Rhys Jones is auctioning off unusual items, such as this coffin made in the shape of a camcorder. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH)Griff Rhys Jones is auctioning off unusual items, such as this coffin made in the shape of a camcorder. Picture: EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICES (EACH) (Image: Archant)

VIDEO: Griff Rhys Jones on why he’s launched an auction to support a hospiceEACH has experienced a hugely significant drop in voluntary income as a result of shops being closed and fundraising events cancelled this year.

Griff said: “I’ve been involved in many charities over the years, but EACH is one that makes a direct, one-to-one difference to people’s lives, to their happiness and their expectations.

“Don’t think that these hospices are about dying. They are about living. They offer the chance to get the most out of precious time.

“The Treehouse, run by EACH, near me, is a joyous place, full of light and hope.

MORE: ‘It’s reduced me to tears’: Griff Rhys Jones on heartbreak of seeing families at children’s hospice“I have never been as emotionally moved. I met some of the parents of the children who go to the hospice.

“Their commitment, their love and their dedication is overpowering.”

The auction will be hosted by online auction experts Bid In, kindly donating its services free of charge, with Go Group giving a free platinum delivery service straight to doors.

For more information and to start looking at lots announced so far, visit www.CelebrityBottomDrawer.com

Anyone who feels they already have enough items around the house will be able to ‘bid for nothing’ and make a donation straight to EACH.