Open All Hours backdrop
Open All Hours

Open All Hours

7.9 / 1019764 Seasons

Synopsis

Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker as a miserly shop keeper and David Jason as his put-upon nephew who works as his errand boy.

Genre: Comedy

Status: Ended

Creator: N/A

Main Cast

Ronnie Barker

Ronnie Barker

David Jason

David Jason

Granville

Barbara Flynn

Barbara Flynn

Lynda Baron

Lynda Baron

Shirley Steedman

Maggie Ollerenshaw

Maggie Ollerenshaw

Stephanie Cole

Stephanie Cole

User Reviews

CinemaSerf

It took the BBC a couple of years after the end of "Porridge" to find another suitable sitcom for the considerable talents of Ronnie Barker, and so in 1976 they reunited him with producer Sydney Lotterby and "Last of the Summer Wine" creator Roy Clarke to portray "Arkwright", the stammering Yorkshire store keeper whose miserliness could give "Scrooge" a run for his money. He is enamoured of the well-endowed local nurse "Gladys" (Lynda Baron) whilst trying to keep his live-in nephew/dogsbody "Granville" (a wonderfully skilful series of performances from David Jason) from succumbing to the evil - and extravagant - ways of the world. With a few additional contributions from Barbara Flynn as the lady who delivers the milk - and sends "Granville" into spasms of sexual apoplexy at the same time; the equally frugal Stephanie Cole ("Mrs. Feathestone") and Kathy Staff ("Mrs. Blewett") the tightly cast team play well off each other, with strong, amiable, characterisations that thrive off the back of the Northern (English) stereotypes upon which the stories are based. Nowadays, the humour falls a little bit foul of changed attitudes, but Clarke never wrote from any perspective other than one that ridicules sexism, racism and agism in a thought-provoking fashion, whist still allowing both Barker and Jason to do what they do best - elicit a laugh. This was must watch television for almost ten years, and is still great today.

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