The History of Only Fools and Horses - Part Two

Image Source: Joke

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Having tackled the first few years of Only Fools and Horses in Part One (which you can read by clicking here), next we move onto some of the greatest years in the history of Only Fools - although this period began on a sad note.

Series Four - 1985

Episode one - Happy Returns, where Rodney dates the daughter of one of Del's old flames - briefly refers to the Grandad character being in hospital. In reality, actor Lennard Pearce died during production of this series, with some scenes shot for a later episode (which would be refilmed). To handle the situation, John Sullivan wrote a moving yet ultimately funny and productive episode entitled Strained Relations, where the Trotters openly acknowledged the real-life death, albeit referring to Grandad the character rather than Lennard the actor. It was so effective that David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst were in tears filming the scenes, but there were still moments of laughter to be had, such as a priceless mix-up involving Grandad's hat and his coffin, and the humorous methods used for the introduction of Grandad's replacement, Uncle Albert (played by Buster Merryfield). Although Grandad provided great comic foil for Del and Rodney, Albert was arguably even funnier and certainly a more loveable figure in the long run, with his recounts from "During the War" being show highlights on their own at various points going forward. Of greater note, though, was how Sullivan managed to weave a real-life death into a situation comedy, and pull it off so well and so tastefully that the show never missed a beat, and paid a fitting tribute to Lennard in the process.

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