Len Reynolds

Len Reynolds
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by	Peter Martin
Introduced by	Kieran Roberts
Duration	2001–07
First appearance	21 February 2001
Last appearance	17 May 2007
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	23 February 1937
Date of death	17 May 2007(2007-05-17) (aged 70)
Occupation	Retired
Family Wife Eileen Reynolds (?-2001) Sons Sean Reynolds Grandsons Marc Reynolds Granddaughters Ollie Reynolds

Leonard "Len" Reynolds is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Peter Martin.

Character's background

Len arrived in Emmerdale in 2001 to visit his only son Sean following the death of his wife and Sean's mother, Eileen. Len’s presence was a great comfort to his son and his family. Sean and his wife Angie were going through difficulties in their marriage and having Len as a mediator was helpful.

However, the marriage was destroyed when it was revealed that Angie had been sleeping with criminal Cain Dingle and Sean left to start a new life with his mistress, Lady Tara Oakwell. Len stayed behind to help Angie rebuild her life, at the request of his granddaughter Ollie. Len kept a close watch on his grandchildren - not knowing that soon he would be required to take on a more pivotal role in their lives.

In November 2002, Angie was killed in a car crash whilst attempting to set Cain up in order to get him out of her life, leaving Len to look after Marc and Ollie. Marc went to live with his father but Ollie chose to stay in Emmerdale with Len and soon her boyfriend Danny Daggert moved in with them. Len enjoyed living with them and was sad when Ollie moved away to go to university.

At the same time, Len had developed feelings for local pensioner Edna Birch but she did not reciprocate. However, he found love again with flamboyant newcomer Pearl Ladderbanks. Enchanted by Pearl’s sunny personality, Len moved in with her.

Pearl, however, was hiding a secret. Her son, Frank Bernard Hartbourne, whom she had said was a financial advisor, was released from prison - after serving a sentence for rape. When Len found out the truth, he was horrified and it looked like their relationship was over but he realised what Pearl had been through and he agreed to stand by her.

Having nowhere else to go, Frank was invited to Emmerdale by a reluctant Pearl. When news of his arrival was announced in the local paper, the villagers were outraged and turned against Pearl and Len. Only vicar Ashley Thomas and Edna stood by them. Devastated at being treated so cruelly by their neighbours, the couple decided to leave Emmerdale for good. But, after Frank left after being viciously assaulted by Scott Windsor and Syd Woolfe, Len and Pearl decided to stay and try and rebuild bridges with their neighbours.

Len was delighted for Pearl when her grandson Owen Hartbourne came to visit from Hong Kong and even agreed to start saving for a trip overseas to see him. But Pearl’s saving got out of hand. She started investing in an internet scheme that turned out to be a scam and lost all her money. The mistake ended up putting Pearl into financial turmoil and she ended up owing a huge sum of money to her boss Eric Pollard. When he found out that Pearl had been blackmailed by Eric, Len punched him and thought that the matter was resolved. But although he had got the loan he had to given Pearl back, Eric insisted on charging an early settlement charge that he said must be paid or he would report Len for assault. Pearl decided to keep this from him and Len had no idea that her debts had spiralled even further. Their relationship ended when Len found out about Pearl's lies and she left the village in disgrace.

Two months later, she returned to Emmerdale with the intention of winning her respect back and reuniting with Len. But Len knew he was in love with Edna Birch and had been for a long time. He confessed his love for Edna to Pearl, but she vowed to stand by him and was satisfied with being second best as they both knew that Edna did not feel the same way about Len that he did for her. Len then proposed, and the couple began planning their wedding.

On 17 May 2007, Len, with most of the other villagers, attended the village pageant to celebrate Emmerdale's 500th birthday. Pearl was supervising activities, had failed to include Edna. Len was disappointed with Pearl and went after Edna to see if she was alright, and he comforted her. Len then returned to the church hall with his friend Sandy Thomas. Whilst the celebrations were occurring outside, Len died in his chair of a heart attack. He was found by Sandy, who had been bringing Len a drink. Sandy thought Len friend had fallen asleep and attempted to wake him until he checked Len's pulse and realised Len had died. Sandy, knowing it was too late, told a shocked Pearl, who was devastated. Jo Stiles, who had become a close friend of Len's through Danny begged Donna Windsor-Dingle to keep on trying to resuscitate Len, but her attempts were to no avail. An ambulance arrived to take Len's body away, while Pearl tried to contemplate her loss in private and Sandy comforted Betty and Edna. As news of Len's death spread around the village, Len's body was driven away in an ambulance whilst Katherine Jenkins sang him out, although as she was closing the pageant, she was unaware of the death that had occurred in the village.

External links

• Len Reynolds at itv.com

See also

• Emmerdale Cast List