Only Fools And Horses: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

Season 4, while good, was marred by a very major event, that being the death of Grandad actor, Leonard Pearce. As such, a lot of the writing was thrown into disarray as Pearce had already filmed some on-location footage, but his passing meant that new scenes had to be shot as quickly and as cheaply as possible, not to mention a whole new episode featuring Grandad's funeral and the introduction of Uncle Albert.

Although a couple of episodes seem rushed, the rest are up to the standard set by the previous two series, including an excellent rewrite of an episode originally featuring Leonard Pearce and who had film scenes for the episodes, making it a heart-wrenching moment when it's revealed Albert pulled a con in order to pay for his older brother's gravestone.

It's clear that the loss of such a close member of the Only Fools family had been a major blow to the cast and crew. And while it was largely well received by fans, it's clear that things were starting to slow down in spite of how much a breath of fresh air Buster Merrifield was to the regular cast.