Only Fools and Horses: Tragic reason the fourth series underwent major changes at last minute

Season four of Only Fools and Horses might be remembered as the first to feature legend of the show Buster Merryfield as Uncle Albert – but it was also the last season of the show to feature the beloved Lennard Pearce as Grandad.

This change was forced upon showrunners when Lennard suffered two heart attacks within days of each other and tragically died at his home in Archway aged 69.

Writer John Sullivan didn’t want to start the season with a funeral and Lennard had only partially completed his scenes for the original season opener Hole in One so instead of using this Sullivan wrote a whole new episode to open the season ‘Happy Returns’ where it was explained that Grandad was in hospital.

The next episode, which they wrote and shot for Grandad’s funeral, ended up being one of the most emotional of the entire show’s nine season run.

Ahead of filming the scene David Jason who played the iconic Del Boy was nervous about getting the scenes right for Lennard, whilst also making the episode work as a sitcom, and didn’t think it could be done.

But Sullivan got the writing spot on in terms of moving between drama, comedy, and sadness, always keeping the mood just light enough.

Jason said in his autobiography: “I wanted to get it right for Lennard, and at the same time, I wanted to get it right for John.

“He just wouldn’t let television dismiss Lennard’s passing, in the way that television might have done, if television had been left to its own frequently fickle devices.

“It was a wonderful thing – and something that nobody had done in situation comedy.”

The addition of this episode with Grandad’s funeral Strained Relations as well as the new season opener Sullivan had to write, explains why season four was enlarged to eight episodes rather than the usual six.

Everyone will probably agree though that they handled Lennard’s passing in the best way possible.