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Open All Hours - British Comedy
Open All Hours was a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke which ran for four series (26 episodes in all) between 1976 and 1985, with a pilot episode from the Seven of One series in 1973. In 2004, the series was voted eighth in Britain's Best Sitcom.
The series features a small grocer's shop in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. The owner, Arkwright (Ronnie Barker), is a middle-aged miser with a stammer and a knack of being able to sell anything . His nephew Granville (David Jason) is the put-upon errand boy, whose attempts at a love-life or even just a meaningful social life fall flat. He blames his uncle, in particular that he has to be up early to open the shop and stay late to close it. Almost every mistake Arkwright makes is followed by a cry of "Gr-Granville! F-fetch yer cloth!". A recurring joke revolves around Arkwright's claim that Granville's estranged father was Hungarian — an issue never resolved. Arkwright made cracks about the sexlife of his late sister (Granville's mother).
The shop is crowded and most goods can only be reached from behind the counter — allowing Arkwright a chance to hawk more goods. The till is old, and a spring on its drawer terrifies Granville and Arkwright, who is too much a miser to buy a new one.
Across the road lives Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), Arkwright's long-standing fiancée; much of the skinflint's time is dedicated to trying to make her marry him, or at least sleep with him. Nurse Gladys has her rounds and her elderly mother to occupy her. She is protective of Granville and tries to use her influence with Arkwright to get him a better life. In the pilot episode, Nurse Gladys was played by Sheila Brennan with an Irish accent, and the character was slimmer than the buxom creature she became, played by Lynda Baron.
Other regulars included the milkwoman (Barbara Flynn) for whom Granville had the hots; Mavis (Maggie Ollerenshaw) a young woman who could not make up her mind what to buy; Mrs Blewett (Kathy Staff), with a critical word for everyone; and Mrs Featherstone (Stephanie Cole), the Black Widow, a sour-faced miser who admired Arkwright for being likewise.
Episodes generally involve some plan by Arkwright to wed Nurse Gladys, save money or sell more stuff, and end with Arkwright shutting shop for the night with his reflection on the day.
A few complaints were registered over humorous use of a speech impediment but Arkwright was so amiable and the humour so good-natured that most deemed it a portrayal without malice. The part was originally written without the stammer — Barker suggested it and it became part of Arkwright's character. Similarly, the dangerous cash-register was created mostly by Barker.
Two of Ronnie Barker's fake moustaches (donated by the BBC) used in the show were auctioned at the British Stammering Association conference in London, September 2005.
The show's theme tune is a song called Alice, where art thou? music written by Joseph Ascher .[2] It was played in an arrangement for brass band by Max Harris, who also wrote incidental music for the series.[3]
The programme can be quite reflective and at times has moments of pathos. Whilst everyone else in the programme is practical and shows no emotion or sentimentality, Granville is quite the opposite and throughout the series Granville often reflects on life passing him by. Occasionally characters he would have known as a teenager are brought in and whilst they have all gone on in life and had some success, Granville has remained his uncle's errand boy — the ageing Granville is still treated like a child, in particular by Arkwright, but also by customers in the shop, even those sympathetic towards his predicament.
Season 1
Season 1, Episode 1: Full of Mysterious Promise
Original Air Date—20 February 1976
Season 1, Episode 2: A Mattress on Wheels
Original Air Date—27 February 1976
Season 1, Episode 3: A Nice Cosy Little Disease
Original Air Date—5 March 1976
Season 1, Episode 4: Beware of the Dog
Original Air Date—12 March 1976
Season 1, Episode 5: Well Catered Funeral
Original Air Date—19 March 1976
Season 1, Episode 6: Apple and Self Service
Original Air Date—26 March 1976
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