Open All Hours

For the album by The Hamsters, see Open All Hours (album).

Open All Hours
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Roy Clarke
Directed by	Sydney Lotterby
Starring	Ronnie Barker David Jason Lynda Baron Barbara Flynn Stephanie Cole Kathy Staff Maggie Ollerenshaw
Theme music composer	Joseph Ascher
Opening theme	"Alice, Where Art Thou?"
Ending theme	"Alice, Where Art Thou?"
Composer	Max Harris
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	James Gilbert (pilot episode)
Producer	Sydney Lotterby (1973, 1976–1985)
Production location	England
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Two (1973, 1976)
Release	25 March 1973 (1973-03-25) – 6 October 1985 (1985-10-06)
Related
Seven of One

Open All Hours is a BBC television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which premiered in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronnie Barker's comedy anthology series, Seven of One (1973). Open All Hours ranked eighth in the 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll. A sequel, entitled Still Open All Hours, was created in 2013.

Premise

The setting is a small grocer's shop in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The owner, Albert E. Arkwright (Ronnie Barker), is a middle-aged miser with a stammer and a knack for selling. His nephew Granville Arkwright (David Jason), is his put-upon errand boy, who blames his work schedule for his lacklustre social life.

Across the road lives Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), a nurse occupied by her professional rounds and her elderly mother. Arkwright longs to marry her, but she resists his persistent pressures. Though short-tempered with Arkwright, she is concerned for his and Granville's welfare.

Albert Arkwright

Main article: Albert Arkwright

Arkwright is a pragmatic, miserly man with old fashioned values, whose world seems to stop at his shop door, except for his uncontrollable lust for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), which may prompt him on occasion to wander across the road, usually with a ladder, to gain access to her bedroom window. Arkwright is a devious, and mildly dishonest character, who has many crafty tricks to try to persuade a customer to leave his store having bought at least one thing, and will avoid spending his own money at all cost. He is also very conservative about his savings, keeping some in his pocket wrapped in a fine gold chain, and some in an old, battered Oxo tin that he hides under the kitchen sink. This includes, or so he claims, coins from before 1922, when they were 'solid silver'.

Granville

Main article: Granville

Granville is the son of Arkwright's sister. She died as a single mother when Granville was very young, leaving Arkwright to bring up the boy. Arkwright's jokes imply that his sister was promiscuous; he speculates that Granville's father is Hungarian. He is often referred to as a "youth" or "young lad", even though David Jason was over 35 when he first began playing the role.

Granville is shy and awkward, but kind. His priorities differ from those of his uncle. He always feels that life is passing him by. Occasionally, people from Granville's past come into the shop. To Granville, who is ever saddled with his shop duties and bearing his uncle's belittling, their lives seem richer and more fulfilling.

When Granville has a fling with the milk woman (played by Barbara Flynn), his uncle is unsupportive.

Theme tune

The show's theme tune is a song called "Alice, Where Art Thou?", written by Joseph Ascher. It was arranged for brass band and performed by Max Harris, who also wrote the incidental music for the programme.

Series development

The shop is based on a little store called L E Riddiford in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. Roy Clarke visited this small town whilst travelling around the South West and was said to have fallen in love with the shop layout and the store owner, Mr Len Riddiford. The store is referenced in numerous Open All Hours episodes by Arkwright.

Ronnie Barker proposed that Albert Arkwright should have a stammer, and this was written into the character. Barker also co-created the premise of the dangerous till. In the series, the shop's antiquated till has a drawer that tends to snap shut suddenly. Even though this terrifies Granville and Arkwright, Arkwright leaves it to avoid the cost of buying a replacement, and because he believes it discourages burglars.

Reception

At the time of the programme's airing, it was widely known that some viewers objected to the show's reliance on a speech impediment for some of its laughs. Even so, Ronnie Barker's character was so amiable and the humour good-natured enough that most deemed it an unmalicious portrayal.

Filming location

The exterior shots were recorded on Lister Avenue in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster; the shop itself was later converted to a hairdresser's salon. The pilot episode used a shop front on the western intersection of Drayton Avenue and Manor Road, Ealing W13 (London) for exterior filming.

The BBC has announced that the Christmas Special 2013 will also be filmed for at least three days at the same location. There have also been hints that some filming may happen in the Doncaster town centre.

In the first series, Gladys Emmanuel's street address is 34 Lister Avenue, Balby, Doncaster, South Yorkshire (though the number changes to number 32 in the second series).

The local council considered demolishing the shop used in Open All Hours. A fan created a web site to garner support for preserving it. The shop was to be auctioned in Leeds on 24 November 2008, and was expected to fetch between £120,000 and £130,000; however, all bids fell short of the reserve price.

Three years earlier, a different sort of auction commemorated the series. The BBC donated to the British Stammering Association two of the false moustaches worn by Ronnie Barker in the series. The BSA auctioned the moustaches at their London conference in September 2005 (shortly before Barker's death).

Recurring characters

Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, Arkwright and Granville

Character	Actor	Episodes	Years
Albert E. Arkwright	Ronnie Barker	26 episodes	1973–1985
Granville E. Arkwright	David Jason	26 episodes	1973–1985
Nurse Gladys Emmanuel	Lynda Baron1	25 episodes	1976–1985
Milk Woman	Barbara Flynn	10 episodes	1981–1985
Mrs Delphine Featherstone2	Stephanie Cole	10 episodes	1982–1985
Mrs Blewett3	Kathy Staff	7 episodes	1976–1981
Mavis4	Maggie Ollerenshaw	7 episodes	1981–1982
Mrs Parslow	Frances Cox	5 episodes	1981–1985
Cyril	Tom Mennard	3 episodes	1982–1985
Mrs Ellis	Barbara Keogh	2 episodes	1976
Gordon	Teddy Turner	2 episodes	1981–1982
Thorndyke	Alan Starkey	2 episodes	1982–1985
Julie	Helen Cotterill	2 episodes	1982
Mrs Bickerdyke	Sandra Voe	2 episodes	1985

1.^ In the pilot episode, the role of Gladys Emmanuel was played by Irish actress Sheila Brennan.

2.^ Mrs Featherstone, nicknamed "the Black Widow", is a sour-faced, miserly hag who admires Arkwright for being likewise, and shows some romantic interest in him.

3.^ Mrs Blewett has a critical word for everyone.

4.^ Mavis is a young woman who has consistent difficulty deciding what to buy in Arkwright's shop.

Revival

Main article: Still Open All Hours

The show returned with the title Still Open All Hours in Christmas 2013, with Jason reprising the role of Granville. The new one-off episode written by Clarke saw Granville now running the shop with his son Leroy played by James Baxter, after inheriting it from Arkwright. Clarke wrote the script in two weeks, and production began in October 2013. The exterior scenes were filmed at the original location at Lister Avenue in Doncaster from 18 to 20 November 2013. Interior scenes were recorded in early December 2013 at MediaCityUK in Salford in front of a live-studio-audience. A documentary accompanying the show's return was also produced. Clarke said he was also willing to bring the show back for a full series if the one-off episode was a success. On 30 January 2014, the BBC commissioned a full series of Still Open All Hours for six new episodes to be shown later in the year.

Merchandise

Books

Two books related to the series have been released in the UK. One was written by Graham McCann and published by BBC Books and the other one was written by Christine Sparks and was published BBC Books.

• Open All Hours

This was published in February 1981 which is based on the original series. Sparks, Christine (February 1981). Open All Hours:[Papercover]. BBC Books. ISBN 0563179244.

• Still Open All Hours: The Story of a Classic Comedy

This is due to be published on October 30 2014. McCann, Graham (30 October 2014). Still Open All Hours: The Story of a Classic Comedy [Hardcover]. BBC Books. ISBN 1849908869.

DVD releases

All four series have been released in Regions 2 and 4, both individually and in box sets. Region 1 has released the box set but the series have not been released individually. In Australia, the BBC with Roadshow released "Series One: Episodes 1–3 Comedy Bites" in 2010.

DVD Title		Discs	Year	Ep. No,	DVD releases			Notes
					Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	Complete Series 1	1	1973 and 1976	7		30 September 2002	1 April 2003	Includes the 1973 pilot
	Complete Series 2	1	1981	7		29 September 2003	3 December 2003
	Complete Series 3	1	1982	6		4 October 2004	2 March 2005
	Complete Series 4	1	1985	6		31 October 2005	8 August 2006
	Complete Series 1–4	4	1973–1985	26	9 June 2009	13 November 2006	1 August 2007	Includes the 1973 pilot

See also

• List of Open All Hours episodes
• Porridge (TV series)

External links

• Open All Hours at BBC Online Guide to Comedy.
• Open All Hours at BBC Online
• Open All Hours at the British Film Institute.
• Open All Hours at the BFI's Screenonline.
• Open All Hours at IMDb.
• Open All Hours at British Comedy Guide.
• Image of Arkwright's shop in April 2007