Lennard Pearce
Health problems and death
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Pearce began filming the episode "[[Hole in One (Only Fools and Horses)|Hole in One]]" for the fourth series of ''Only Fools in Horses'' in early December 1984, participating in two location sequences for a storyline where Grandad attempts to commit insurance fraud by falling into a pub cellar. During the following week, Pearce suffered a heart attack and was admitted to [[Whittington Hospital]], where scriptwriter [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]] visited him. He died from a second heart attack on 15 December.{{cite web |title=The only fools and horses story Page 100 |url= https://archive.org/details/onlyfoolshorsess0000clar/page/100/mode/2up?view=theater |publisher=BBC|date=1998|website=archive.org |accessdate=14 November 2022}} |
Pearce began filming the episode "[[Hole in One (Only Fools and Horses)|Hole in One]]" for the fourth series of ''Only Fools in Horses'' in early December 1984, participating in two location sequences for a storyline where Grandad attempts to commit insurance fraud by falling into a pub cellar. During the following week, Pearce suffered a heart attack and was admitted to [[Whittington Hospital]], where scriptwriter [[John Sullivan (writer)|John Sullivan]] visited him. He died from a second heart attack on 15 December.{{cite web |title=The only fools and horses story Page 100 |url= https://archive.org/details/onlyfoolshorsess0000clar/page/100/mode/2up?view=theater |publisher=BBC|date=1998|website=archive.org |accessdate=14 November 2022}} |
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Filming for ''Only Fools and Horses'', which Pearce had been due to participate in, was |
Filming for ''Only Fools and Horses'', which Pearce had been due to participate in, was planned to resume the following morning. Producer [[Ray Butt]] was informed of Pearce's death by his agent and broke the news to the cast and crew on location, including costars [[David Jason]] and [[Nicholas Lyndhurst]]. |
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Following Pearce's death, the beginning of the fourth series was restructured and Sullivan wrote two new scripts at short notice. This included "[[Strained Relations]]", which, unusually for a comedy series at the time, featured an on-screen funeral for Grandad. [[Buster Merryfield]] was hired as the replacement character [[Uncle Albert]].{{cite web |title=The only fools and horses story Page 102 |url= https://archive.org/details/onlyfoolshorsess0000clar/page/102/mode/1up |publisher=BBC|date=1998|website=archive.org |accessdate=14 November 2022}} |
Following Pearce's death, the beginning of the fourth series was restructured and Sullivan wrote two new scripts at short notice. This included "[[Strained Relations]]", which, unusually for a comedy series at the time, featured an on-screen funeral for Grandad. [[Buster Merryfield]] was hired as the replacement character [[Uncle Albert]].{{cite web |title=The only fools and horses story Page 102 |url= https://archive.org/details/onlyfoolshorsess0000clar/page/102/mode/1up |publisher=BBC|date=1998|website=archive.org |accessdate=14 November 2022}} |
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