Only Fools and Horses icon Lennard Pearce, better known as Grandad, left only thousands in his will despite being in one of the UK's most beloved BBC sitcoms. Pearce passed away at 69 from a heart attack in 1984, leaving the show's cast and crew in a state of shock. Posthumously, it was revealed that Pearce's wealth was modest, with The Sun reporting that historic probate documents valued his estate at "not exceeding" £40,000. In comparison, Harry "Buster" Merryfield, who played Grandad's brother Uncle Albert before his death in 1999, left a fortune to his wife Iris Merryfield. She died in November 2002, with public records showing an estate totalling £654,304, but with a net value of £590,978.

Lennard graced the screen as Grandad for three series, and fans will remember the poignant second episode of series four where Del Boy Trotter (played by Sir David Jason) and Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) mourned at Grandad's funeral. Off-screen, the actors were also mourning Lennard, whose passing became a focal point in the Channel 5 documentary, Only Fools and Horses: Secrets and Scandals.

During the documentary, editor Chris Wadsworth reflected: "It was terrible, it wasn't just the character who had died, we were saying goodbye to a really nice gentleman and a great character."

Reports suggest that Lennard's health was deteriorating during the filming of Only Fools and Horses, as he battled severe hypertension and an alleged dependence on alcohol.

"He became more frail because of his health as time went on," Graham McCann informed Channel 5 viewers. "Sometimes he would have someone help him come to work.

"It was a tough life for him in the final couple of years or so."

Scripts for the fourth season were already prepared when Lennard passed away, creating a significant challenge for the team. Graham explained that this unfortunate circumstance compelled them to address Grandpa's death in the "best way" possible.

"The [director] really wanted Only Fools and Horses to be something with more depth in it than conventional sitcoms," he stated.

He added: "With others, you might either write the character out or recast them, [the director] wanted the character to die and the other characters to react to the death."