Open All Hours (TV Series 1973–1985) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Arkwright is a tight-fisted shop owner in Doncaster, who will stop at nothing to keep his profits high and his overheads low, even if this means harassing his nephew Granville. Arkwright's ... See full summary » Stars: Arkwright decides to take Nurse Gladys away to a hotel. This leaves Granville in a position to make his play for the milk round lady, but Arkwright, hands on as ever and never keen to be too far away... 8.2 To the envy of Granville who has never attended one,Arkwright is taking Nurse Gladys to a wedding and has taken his old suit out of moth-balls, but it still reeks of camphor. Nurse Gladys makes him ...

8.1 When Arkwright finds himself with a surplus of Jamaican Ginger cakes he tries various marketing ploys in order to sell them off, but hits the jackpot when he claims that the cakes contain drugs, ... 8.1 a list of 36 titles created 29 Dec 2011 a list of 42 titles created 19 Feb 2012 a list of 36 titles created 08 Jun 2013 a list of 45 titles created 30 Jan 2014 a list of 22 titles created 03 Jul 2014 Title: Open All Hours (1973–1985) 7.7/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The prison life of Fletcher, a criminal serving a five-year sentence, as he strives to bide his time, keep his record clean, and refuses to be ground down by the prison system.

Stars: Ronnie Barker, Brian Wilde, Fulton Mackay Long running BBC comedy show consisting of sketches and humourous musical routines involving the large Ronnie Barker and the small Ronnie Corbett. Most sketches involved both men, but ... See full summary » Stars: Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, The Fred Tomlinson Singers Having inherited the shop from his uncle, it's business as usual for Granville at Arkwright's corner shop. Stars: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole Victor Meldrew is a retiree who attracts bad luck. If he's not driving his long suffering wife Margeret crazy with his constant moaning, he's fighting with neighbors. Stars: Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie, Doreen Mantle This prison comedy is based on the popular British television series of the same name. Long time Slade prison inmate Fletcher is ordered by Grouty to arrange a football match between the ... See full summary » Director: Dick Clement Classic 1960s British comedy series about a middle aged man and his elderly father who run an unsuccessful 'rag and bone' business (collecting and selling junk). Harold (the son) wants to ... See full summary » Stars: Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H.

Corbett, Frank Thornton Accident-prone Frank Spencer fails to navigate the simplest tasks of daily life, while also trying to look after his wife and baby. Stars: Michael Crawford, Michele Dotrice, Jessica Forte Going Straight (TV Series 1978) Comedy Following his release from Slade prison, Fletcher tries to stick to the straight and narrow, but it isn't easy! Stars: Ronnie Barker, Patricia Brake, Richard Beckinsale During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion. Stars: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn Popular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly landlord Rigsby. In each episode, his conceits are debunked by his long suffering tenants. Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington, Frances de la Tour Terry and Bob from The Likely Lads (1964) continue their life after Terry arrives home from serving in the Army to discover that Bob is about to marry his girlfriend Thelma. Can Thelma lead...

See full summary » Stars: James Bolam, Rodney Bewes, Brigit Forsyth The misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2. Director: Norman Cohen Edit Storyline Arkwright is a tight-fisted shop owner in Doncaster, who will stop at nothing to keep his profits high and his overheads low, even if this means harassing his nephew Granville. Arkwright's only weakness is his love - Nurse Gladys Emanuel. Written by Roy Clarke 20 February 1976 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia In the pilot episode Granville's age is revealed as 25. However in the actual series he is 19. See more » Goofs Arkwright is supposed to be engaged (on and off) to Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, yet in several episodes, he is wearing a wedding ring. It's particularly noticeable when he's counting money from the till. See more » Quotes Granville : You won't let me buy firelighters. You say they're too expensive. Arkwright : They are in this damn shop. I'm not paying these prices! Get round the Co-op and buy some.

[pause] Arkwright : Go and open a packet. Granville : [leaves the room, to return a few seconds later] Not if they're going to count as my birthday present. (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews This is one of the best British sitcoms of all time and comes close to the likes of Porridge and Fawlty Towers. It's basically about a shopkeeper, Arkwright, who is a tight fisted old miser and is constantly trying to seek great attention from nurse Gladys Emanuel, his neighbour and so-called fiancé. Arkright runs a grocers shop on a quiet little street, set in early 1970's Doncaster. Each episode is mainly about the day-to-day running of the shop and Arkwrights' constant banter and disagreements with Granville, his nephew, employee and whipping boy. Granville is still a boy at heart, thanks to his uncle, who won't let him grow up. He is paid a pittance and is kept firmly at bay by his uncle from loose woman and any other form of socializing. The funniest moments in the show are the lengths Mr Arkwright will go to sell his products.

He will say just about anything to get his customers to spend their hard earned dosh in his shop. But the dialogue between all characters is superb and it's clearly a well written series. As the viewer, you really get used to the regular customers in the shop, and it's hilarious to see them be minipulated into buying items they didn't come in for. 10 Out Of 10 8 of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The boozy night with Ronnie Barker that nearly cost me my life, by DAVID JASON | Daily Mail Online comments This week, filming began on a Christmas special of Open All Hours, with Sir David Jason reprising the role of Granville, who is now the proprietor of the grocery store once run by his uncle, Albert Arkwright. Most of the original cast of the classic sitcom — a huge hit during the Seventies and Eighties — are returning, with the exception of the late Ronnie Barker, who played Arkwright. Here Jason recalls the joy of working with Barker, the comedy genius who made him a star . . .

Comic genius: David Jason (right) pictured with Ronnie Barker in comedy classic Open All Hours Working on Open All Hours had some unexpected perks, not least the attractions of the canteen at the BBC’s rehearsal studios in West London. We adjourned there for a restorative repast of sausage, eggs, chips and beans, or sometimes beans, chips, eggs and sausage. And if we timed our lunch break to coincide with the arrival of the dancers from Pan’s People in their rehearsal leotards, we considered ourselves doubly refreshed. For me, however, the real treat was working with Ronnie Barker, the man I called the Guvnor. It was a jokey nickname at first, but it grew to express exactly what I felt about him. It wasn’t just about the depth of his comic gift, the abilities he had as a writer and performer. It was the way he conducted himself, the kind of man he was. I’ve always tried to emulate him a bit and to feel him on my shoulder. Ronnie was never grand or starry, unlike some of the big names I worked with, most notably Terry Scott.

I hadn’t been to drama school or university and had no formal qualifications behind me but in 1966, only two years after I’d jacked in my job as an electrician in North London to pursue my acting career, I got a one-off part in Hugh And I, the popular sitcom Terry starred in before going on to even greater glory in Terry And June. Terry was a giant star and a fairly sizeable pain in the … well, let’s just say he didn’t suffer fools. It seemed that fame had temporarily exhausted his patience with lesser mortals, as fame sometimes will. He was way above little people like me and when the crew were clearly enjoying my few bits of dialogue during rehearsals, often the first sign you get that things are going to work, I noticed him whispering in the director’s ear. RELATED ARTICLES Share The next thing I knew, my funniest line had been given to him. Ronnie could not have been more different. When I first joined the cast of his ITV comedy series Hark At Barker in 1970, his sketches with Ronnie Corbett in The Frost Report had already put them on the path to the success they would soon find as The Two Ronnies.

But, despite the fact that he was already a star, he was very quick to make me feel he saw something in me. Popular: Jason (left) played Granville, with Ronnie Barker as Albert Arkwright in the BBC sitcom which ran from 1973 to 1985 In Hark At Barker I played Dithers, a gardener who worked for Ronnie’s character, Lord Rustless, a baffled old aristocrat who in one scene was using one of those speaking tubes which summoned the servants in big houses. It was filled with black powder and when Ronnie talked into it, somebody out of shot puffed into the other end and covered him with black soot at the appropriate moment. They tried it several times in rehearsal, but Ronnie wasn’t happy. Eventually he said: ‘I want David to blow the soot out because his timing is accurate.’ That rather put me on the spot. But I felt that I was moving up in his estimation and, fortunately, I got the puffing right. I realised that Ronnie had really started to believe in what I could do when the following year he asked me to appear in The Odd Job, a comedy play for LWT.

Respect: Sir David referred to his much-loved colleague Ronnie Barker as the Guvnor He was cast as Arthur, a depressed character who was essentially a feed for all the funny lines given to my character Clive, the hit man he hires to help him do away with himself. Reading the script, I realised that I had all the jokes. I rang the producer, Humphrey Barclay, to clarify that there hadn’t been a mistake, but he confirmed that this was how Ronnie wanted to do it. I was very struck by that. It wasn’t about Ronnie being the needy comedian, having to get the laughs. It was about what he, as an actor, thought worked best for the piece. I bore that in mind when, two years later, he asked me to play Granville, Arkwright’s helpless nephew, in a pilot episode of Open All Hours. FROM GROCERY BOY TO KING OF THE RASPBERRIES The Guvnor was ever the perfectionist.

In 1976, The Two Ronnies included a weekly serial called The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town, about an elusive figure who does for people by leaping out and blowing raspberries at them, and I was given the honour of providing the raspberries for the soundtrack. As Ronnie B knew, few people blow a raspberry as well as me. Indeed, I consider myself a world leader. But still Ronnie monitored my raspberry-blowing extremely carefully, for volume, tone and duration. At one point, he had me in the sound booth while he stood on the other side of the glass, and he conducted me, very earnestly, in an entirely blown-raspberry version of the 1812 Overture. I still have the credit board, which reads ‘Phantom Raspberry Blower — David Jason’ and I’m enormously proud of my contribution to that little moment of comic history. When I first saw the script I secretly found the part a little thin and disappointing. I had no idea that this rather lost character in his Fair Isle jumper would propel my career to another level. But if Ronnie thought it worth pursuing, I felt there must be something to it.

While we waited to see whether the BBC would commission a first series, Ronnie asked me to do a stint in Porridge, as an old lag called Blanco. Then in 1975 we were given the go-ahead for Open All Hours. During that first series, Ronnie and I grew closer. After filming the exterior scenes in a terraced street in Doncaster, we moved back to London where the interiors were shot in front of a studio audience, one episode at a time. This was always on a Sunday night and, after each recording, Ronnie and I set off for a bistro in a mews near the Victoria And Albert Museum where we ordered what he called ‘battery acid’ — a throat-peelingly filthy house wine. I started seeing him and his wife, Joy, for dinner, first at their home in North London, where they lived with their three children, and then at the old mill house in Oxfordshire which they had restored and furnished with numerous antiques. It was a house of wonders. One cabinet groaned with little statuettes of 1920s bathing belles, porcelain figures in swimming costumes, all a bit risqué for their period, but with beautifully detailed china faces and bathing caps hung with jewels.

Another was full of toy soldiers, the old lead ones, beautifully finished and hand-painted. There were also thousands of postcards. Ronnie loved images of the seaside from the turn of the century and dedicated albums to them. Along with wonderful pictures of all shapes and sizes on the walls, it all went together because they had such great taste. Fun: Sir David tells how he enjoyed working with Lynda Baron who played Ronnie Barker's love interest in Open All Hours I didn’t have the confidence to buy things in the way that they did, but I did get a bit of an education in this area from Ronnie. When we were on location for Open All Hours, we had Sundays off, and Ronnie would get his driver to take me and him out to antiques and junk shops in the villages around Doncaster. We’d spend hours nosing around for treasures for him to take back to Oxfordshire. Ronnie’s house there was a place where I always felt extremely welcome, but it was also where I once nearly met a premature death. One summer, my girlfriend Myfanwy and I were staying for the weekend and, after a very nice evening in which a certain amount of wine had been drunk, I couldn’t sleep and decided I needed some air.

It was pitch black outside, but my slightly inebriated knowledge of Ronnie’s place suggested that a door in the outside wall of our bedroom led onto a flat roof. I was about to step out when I realised that there might be little stones on said roof which would play havoc with my bare feet. Instead I contented myself with standing in the doorway and breathing in the night air before I went back to bed. In the morning, I opened the door and looked out again. There was no flat roof, just a 30ft sheer drop on to the disused mill wheel below. When I told Ronnie about my night-time adventures, the blood drained from his face and within a few days of our departure a nice secure balcony was put across the offending door. The first series of Open All Hours came and went without much fanfare because the BBC, in its almighty wisdom, put it out on BBC2, reasoning that it was ‘a gentle comedy’, better suited to the calms of the second channel than to the noisier, choppier waters of the first. What annoyed Ronnie, more than anything, was the use of the word ‘gentle’ in relation to the show.

‘When they say it’s “gentle”, they normally mean they don’t think it’s very funny,’ he told me. Obviously that was a bit of a blow, but Open All Hours was given a new lease of life at the end of the Seventies when the two Ronnies decamped to Australia for a year, partly to avoid Britain’s then crippling tax regime. On the move: Open All Hours was given a slot on BBC1 when Ronnie Barker and his comedy partner Ronnie Corbett (left) decamped to Australia Suddenly bereft of new material from one of its most popular acts, the BBC rebroadcast the first series of Open All Hours, this time on BBC1 where it got good ratings, entirely vindicating Ronnie’s feeling that they should have gone that way the first time around. In 1980, four years on from the initial run, the show’s creator, Roy Clarke, was commissioned to write a second series and off we went back to Doncaster where we were warmly welcomed — except, clearly, by the man who burst past the camera in the middle of one take and threatened me with a bread-knife. Funny how a certain calm can descend on you in a situation like that.

I simply looked at him quizzically and said, in an attempt to pacify him: ‘Was there something you wanted?’ AND A GOOD KNIGHT FROM HIM Ronnie’s death came just two months before I was knighted by the Queen. I would have loved him to have been at the lunch that day, instead I had to make do with declaiming the poem he had, typically, sent to commemorate my knighthood when it was announced earlier in the year. At least he was there in his own inimitable words: the last few lines of which were as follows: The old ex-Guvnor’s proud to see His comrade reach such high degree, Knight of the Realm, and TV star Who never thought he’d get this far. ‘Arise, Sir David,’ she will say, The sword upon your shoulder lay. I raise a glass filled to the brim And truly say: ‘Good Knight from him.’ The crew got hold of him, the police were summoned and it turned out that the poor bloke lived nearby and was a fully paid-up member of the bewildered. We regrouped, did the shot over and were never again menaced with a serrated blade.

Such incidents aside, I had an awful lot of fun larking about with Ronnie and Lynda Baron who played his love interest, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. But there were at least a couple of moments when I wondered whether I had outgrown being what Ronnie referred to teasingly as the ‘Little Feed’ — the small bloke who set up his lines for him. That was pretty much a neat summary of my role in Open All Hours. After filming one episode we discovered that we had to trim several minutes of material to get down to 30 minutes. As I sat there, watching all my funny stuff hitting the cutting-room floor, I went very quiet and Ronnie asked if I was all right. ‘Any jokes that I have are getting cut,’ I said. ‘I’m just feeding you.’ The next day I received one of the many handwritten poems Ronnie sent me over the years. This one was in rhyming couplets, full of mock-Shakespearean ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ and the clinching lines were: ‘The future will provide thy need/Till then be content to be a little feed.’ It was his way of telling me that I shouldn’t get anxious and that what I did had value.

As the experience of making The Odd Job had shown, what was important to him was not who got the laugh, but that we got it and, as always, he knew what he was talking about. Ronnie said that he had an even better time recording Open All Hours than he did filming Porridge, which was arguably more successful By the time we did the fourth and final series of Open All Hours, in 1985, we were averaging 15 million viewers. Ronnie used to say that it was the comedy series he most enjoyed doing — even more than Porridge, which was arguably the more successful of the two. And he once gave an interview in which he said: ‘I enjoyed it all the more because of David.’ I was very touched and flattered by that. Soon after it finished, he told me that he was going to retire. He was 56 at that point and we had recently lost Eric Morecambe and Tommy Cooper, which I think played on his mind. He didn’t want to work himself into an early grave and I respected him so much for it.

Close: David Jason and Ronnie Barker pose with the former's British Academy Fellowship Award in 2003 It gave him a number of relaxed and contented years with Joy before his terribly sad death in October 2005. He had finally brought down the curtain on his career on New Year’s Day, 1988. A few days afterwards, he sent me an official declaration, hand-written in suitably formal script, with blobs of sealing wax and gold illuminations. It announced that it was his ‘chosen and deliberate intention forthwith to abandon the title of the Guvnor in favour of my good loyal and trusty servant David Granville Dithers Jason’. You can imagine how much that meant to me. I never followed the title up, though. Wouldn’t dream of it. There was only one Guvnor. DAVID JASON: My Life by David Jason (Century, £20). © 2013 David Jason. To order a copy for £16.99 (inc. p&p) call 0844 472 4157.

BBC - Comedy - Open All Hours Open All Hours Open All Hours Originally conceived as the first of Ronnie Barker's 1973 pilot season Seven of One, it wasn't long before Open All Hours took on a life of its own. Roy Clarke, who'd already created another hit Yorkshire-based sitcom in Last of the Summer Wine, once worked in a corner-shop and had realised its potential as a setting for comedy. But the central character of miserly grocer Arkwright was the invention of Ronnie Barker, whose other sitcom alter-ego Norman Stanley Fletcher (in Porridge) was already an established classic. It's even more impressive, then, that Barker was able to transform himself once more and make Arkwright, and Open All Hours another all-time British comedy favourite. Allied to his avarice and constant eagerness to make a quick buck, Arkwright's other goal in life is to secure the affections of his neighbour and unrequited love, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, but at the same time he must be a reluctant father figure to his nephew and delivery boy, Granville.

As well as balancing these two relationships, the role gave Barker the chance to exercise his verbal acting muscles, especially in bestowing upon Arkwright his trademark stutter, which was not only entirely convincing but always perfectly judged for comic effect. More so than in Porridge he was also able to exercise his physical comedy skills, such as in a rare running gag in which Arkwright would attempt to outwit his cash till and its vicious spring mechanism. While the show couldn't have worked without the unique Barker, he found a perfect comic foil in David Jason's portrayal of the young Granville. The two actors had already worked together briefly in Porridge, immediately developing a strong chemistry, and now their double act was given space to flourish. Supposedly of Hungarian extraction, young Granville constantly yearns of finding love, glamour and exotic encounters in life but these dreams always remain out of reach, symbolised by his flirtatious yet never-consummated relationship with the local milkwoman. Here was the strongest evidence yet of Jason's own burgeoning acting talent, and of his rightful claim as heir to Barker's sitcom crown.

The two bona fide stars were superbly supported throughout by Lynda Baron's performance as the kind-hearted Nurse Gladys, who shows the patience of a saint in suffering the endless carnal advances of Arkwright but is instead often more interested in the health of the battered and bruised Granville. However, in a fine example of Clarke's beautifully judged writing while Gladys always spurns Arkwright's propositions she does so with charm and warmth, always leaving just the faintest hint that in the right circumstances there could one day be something in the air. In a trait that would perhaps be unrecognisable in corner shops today, Clarke also wrote into the scripts a steady stream of regular customers (such as the cold Mrs Featherstone) whom Arkwright would exchange gossip with while trying to fleece them of more money. Its comedy may have been gentle and located in an unassuming setting, but amongst the heady company of Britain's top sitcoms Open All Hours still sits easily as one of the best.

Open All Hours - Series One NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2.4 Import - Australia by Ronnie Barker: Amazon.co.uk: Ronnie Barker, David Jason, Lynda Baron, Sydney Lotterby: DVD & Blu-ray Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images ? Product Description Australia released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Alternative Footage, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Ronnie Barker stars as Arkwright, the stuttering grocer, in the first series of this cornershop comedy. Arkwright's urge to take money from his customers by fair means or foul is second only to his need to prevent Granville, his nephew, from discovering a world beyond the clang of the shop bell... And, of course, his consuming passion for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. Contains The Following Episodes Full of Mysterious Promise Why don't we get engaged before we both grow a moustache?

What's more fruitless - Arkwright's pursuit of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, or his attempt to sell tins of good without labels? A Mattress on Wheels Arkwright's always been dead against getting a van, unti Granville points out the advantages of taking a lady friend for a drive... A Nice Cosy Little Disease Perhaps a nice cosy little disease on Arkwright's part would be the thing to attract the ministrations of a certain district nurse? Beware of the Dog A local crime wave scares the wits out of an already security-obssesed Arkwright - there's nothing for it, the ship has to be fortified! Well Catered Funeral His best friend's funeral tests Arkwright's generosity to a painful degree. Apples and Self Service Slow apple sales lead to a self-service experiment for the cornershop. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, ...Open All Hours - Series One Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Shopkeeper who inspired Ronnie Barker's Arkwright character in Open All Hours dies aged 78 | Daily Mail Online Next Shopkeeper who inspired Ronnie Barker's Arkwright character in Open All Hours dies aged 78 Barker, who died in 2005, had a holiday home nearby and would pop into Meecham & Sons to buy Bull’s Sweets After show was a hit, owner became a local celebrity, nicknamed 'Arkwright' The shopkeeper who inspired Ronnie Barker’s Arkwright character in the sitcom Open All Hours has died, his daughter revealed today. Dedicated Brian Meecham stocked everything from carbolic soap to homemade ice-cream. He ran Meecham & Sons in Crewkerne, Somerset, from 1965 until his retirement in 1998, becoming renowned for the lengths he would go to for his loyal customers. Brian Meecham in his shop, Meecham & Sons General store, in Crewkerne, Somerset (pictured with his wife, Doreen). He was the inspiration for Ronnie Barker's character in Open All Hours Ronnie Barker as Arkwright and a young David Jason in the hit 1970s' show.

Barker, who died in 2005, had a holiday home in nearby Beaminster and would often shop at Meecham & Sons to buy Bull's Sweets The community stalwart passed away last week at the age of 78 after suffering from heart and kidney problems. But he has been immortalised by comedian Ronnie Barker who used Brian and his grocery store as an inspiration for the 1970s' sitcom Open All Hours. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Barker, who died in 2005, had a holiday home in nearby Beaminster and would often shop at Meecham and Son to buy Bull’s Sweets. He was so impressed with the store’s layout that he replicated it for his shop in Open All Hours, which was based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

The show became a nationwide hit and turned Mr Meecham into a local celebrity legend with residents nicknaming him Arkwright Mr Meecham and his wife Doreen, 76, would often perform improvised impressions of miserly Arkwright and his busty fiancee, nurse Gladys Emanuel (centre), in front of amused customers The community stalwart died last week at the age of 78 after suffering from heart and kidney problems The show, which co-starred David Jason, became a nationwide hit and turned Mr Meecham into a Crewkerne celebrity legend with locals nicknaming him Arkwright. Mr Meecham and his wife Doreen, 76, would often perform improvised impressions of miserly Arkwright and his busty fiancee, nurse Gladys Emanuel, in front of amused customers. He took over the store from his father George who had first opened the doors in 1928 - running it until his death in 1965 at the age of 90. After retiring in 1998, great-grandfather Brian converted the shop into a sitting room, and lived out his years on the premises with Doreen.

His youngest daughter, Debra Spurway, 48, said: 'My father was born in the shop and it was always his plan to die there too. 'He would say "I came in to the world headfirst here so I want to go out feet first’. 'We were hoping to get him back from hospital so he could pass away at home but unfortunately he died a few hours before. 'He loved Ronnie Barker and was known to make people laugh, entertaining customers every day in his shop. 'There was nothing he couldn’t get for people in the days he ran the shop. Brian Meecham's delivery van for the general store. His daughter said: 'He would go out in his van and deliver goods to people in other villages - everything from home-cooked ham to buckets' Brian took over the store from his father George (above) who had first opened the doors in 1928 - running it until his death in 1965 at the age of 90 'He would go out in his van and deliver goods to people in other villages - everything from home-cooked ham to buckets.

'Since his death, we’ve been inundated with messages from people we didn’t know saying how much they will miss him.' Mr Meecham will be returned to the store one more time on Thursday morning before he is transported to St Bartholomew Church in Crewkerne for the 11am service. Mr Meecham will be returned to the store one more time on Thursday morning before he is transported to St Bartholomew Church in Crewkerne for the 11am service Actor David Jason on Ronnie Barker, Lynda Baron and Still Open All Hours Christmas series | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV | Daily Express TV & RADIO David Jason on Open All Hours: 'It was very emotional to return to the old hunting ground' LAST Christmas the BBC revived classic sitcom Open All Hours for a one-off festive special. This year, it has created a six-part series 00:01, Sat, Dec 20, 2014 BBC 'I’m really excited to be bringing back the show' Reviving an iconic TV series – particularly one that pulled in viewers in their millions during its heyday – is a risky endeavour.

So when, last Christmas, the BBC decided to bring back Open All Hours, the much-loved corner shop sitcom starring Ronnie Barker and David Jason, fans were rightly sceptical. Should something that is so fondly remembered be tampered with? And, in the absence of the late Ronnie, whose portrayal of stuttering shopkeeper Arkwright was comedy gold, would the new instalment live up to the original? It was a gamble, but one that paid off for David, who reprised his role as Arkwright’s long-suffering nephew Granville, and his fellow original stars Lynda Baron and Maggie Ollerenshaw. The festive special, Still Open All Hours, marked the show’s 40th anniversary when it went out on Boxing Day and attracted 12.2 million viewers, making it the most watched comedy programme of the year. I’m really excited to be bringing back the show David Jason On the whole, reviewers felt it was a fitting tribute to Ronnie, and a six-episode series was commissioned.

“I’m really excited to be bringing back the show,” says 74-year-old David, who has built a reputation as the king of classic British comedy in roles such as Del Boy Trotter in Only Fools And Horses and Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds Of May. “The feedback from our Christmas special has been so rewarding and encouraging. It goes to prove that the corner shop is still open all hours.” Lynda, 75, who returns as no-nonsense nurse Gladys Emmanuel, admits she was astounded by the viewing figures. “I didn’t realise there were audiences that big anymore. It’s a lesson everyone in the business should take heed of – those audiences are out there, but they’re just not being shown what they want to see,” she says. “Open All Hours is a feel-good show. There’s no blood and bullets, it’s just lovely and light-hearted. It has a wonderful nostalgic, sentimental feel that really resonates with people.” Last year’s special followed a day in the life of the shop and its customers and for fans there were many reminders of the original – the brass-band theme tune, the delivery bike and the finger-threatening till.

In the new series, Granville has inherited the Yorkshire shop from Arkwright and runs it with son Leroy (former Emmerdale actor James Baxter) – the result of a whirlwind romance Granville had in Blackpool more than 20 years previously. And, as in the original, the bickering and bantering between the two acts as a running commentary for the day-to-day goings-on in the shop. BBC Granville (David Jason), Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron) and Leroy (James Baxter) The new series, which airs on BBC1 this week, sees Granville continuing to come up with dubious money-making schemes, while his pursuit of old flame Mavis (Maggie Ollerenshaw), who lives across the road under the beady eye of her fiercely-protective sister, Madge (Brigit Forsyth), is as determined as ever. “Poor old Granville can’t get his love life sorted after all these years. He’s still head over heels for Mavis,” laughs Lynda.

“So he decides to distract Madge by match-making her with their new neighbour, Gastric, which of course ends up causing mayhem.” Also returning for the new series is the pessimistic “Wet” Eric (Johnny Vegas), always hoping for a thunderstorm so he can get a cuddle from his wife, village gossip Mrs Hussein (Nina Wadia) and the hapless Cyril (Kulvinder Ghir), who is continually talked into parting with money for one of Granville’s “special offers”. Written by Roy Clarke, the series began filming in September at the original location, a hair salon in Balby, Doncaster, where the cast was welcomed back with open arms by locals. “It was very emotional to return to the old hunting ground, but we were so pleased that the location and the people hadn’t changed,” says David. “Everyone was welcoming, nice and polite.” Lynda admits the highlight, for her, was working alongside David again. “David is such a silly thing, he makes me die laughing,” she says. “We can be having a very serious conversation one minute and the next he’ll do something that makes me double up.

He’s one of those physical actors – the way he tilts his head, uses his hands – all those little gestures that speak volumes.” The 2013 special gave a loving nod to Ronnie Barker, with his portrait hung on the wall above the shop’s counter, but Lynda says that it feels odd to be making the series without him. “It’s hard, but I think Ronnie would have loved the new series. He would have laughed,” says Lynda, who is full of praise for the way David has filled Ronnie Barker’s shoes and taken on the role of shopkeeper. “It’s amazing how David has managed to make the role his own,” she says. “Now you just expect him to come out of the shop door – that’s a real achievement.” Asked whether there are plans to make a second series of Still Open All Hours, Lynda is noncommittal. She says that it’s always been difficult to reunite the old crew, as everyone has other projects on the go. David has had a busy year with the release of his memoir, My Life, as well as voicing the main character in children’s show Pip Ahoy! and Lynda continues to work in TV and theatre.

This year she appeared with Reece Shearsmith in the hit ITV drama Chasing Shadows and has just signed up to star in the play Stevie alongside Zoë Wanamaker at Hampstead Theatre. It will later transfer to New York for a three-month run. “I’m busier than I’ve ever been and I’ve had to turn down a lot of work, which in this profession is a real novelty, especially as I’m now too old for many roles,” says Lynda. “I suppose once you get to a certain age and you can still remember what you are talking about, you’re in demand! “I don’t know how next year is going to work out, but if I am asked to do another series of Still Open All Hours I’ll do whatever I can to be there.

“Filming the show again has been an absolute joy.” Still Open All Hours, Boxing Day, 6.25PM, BBC1 Related articles BFI Screenonline: Open All Hours (1973-85) Open All Hours (1973-85) 25 x 30 min eps in 4 series, plus 1 special, colour The curmudgeonly, penny-pinching Doncaster shopkeeper, Arkwright, afflicted by a pronounced stammer and harassed by a vicious spring-loaded till, had his first outing in Ronnie Barker 's series of comic plays, Seven of One (BBC, 1973), which had already spawned Porridge (BBC, 1974-77). Arkwright shared his corner shop with Granville, his unworldly nephew of uncertain parentage - though rumours abounded that he was of Hungarian origin - who was desperate for experience with the opposite sex and forever lamenting his repetitive mundane existence devoid of glamour, excitement or adventure.

Open All Hours ' episodes featured Arkwright's mercenary attempts to turn an easy profit, which frequently involved pulling the wool over the eyes of his hapless and gullible customers, and followed Granville's misadventures on the shop bike, from which he would invariably fall while making deliveries, as well as his unsuccessful pursuit of girls. Arkwright carried a torch for his Morris Minor-driving neighbour, District Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, who was constantly fending off his lustful advances at the same time as affectionately tolerating the 'great fool'. She was originally played somewhat more sternly by Sheila Brennan in the pilot (tx. 25/3/1973), before being replaced for the series by Linda Baron in 1976. Gags often focused on the breadth of Nurse Gladys's bosom and behind, which, in addition to Arkwright's comedic speech impediment made for - especially by today's standards - distinctly politically incorrect humour, and a predictable laugh was always elicited by the timely delivery of Arkwright's catchphrase "Granville! Feh-feh-fetch a cloth!" Each episode was book-ended by Arkwright's inner monologue as he opened, then closed up shop.

More parochial and regional in its focus than contemporaneous shop-based sitcom Are You Being Served (BBC, 1973-85), Open All Hours was similarly reliant on often laboured innuendo, albeit of a rather gentle kind; in its wistful evocation of bygone days it more closely resembled writer Roy Clarke Last of the Summer Wine (BBC, 1973-). The performances of, and interplay between the principal trio of Barker Open All Hours | Drama Channel Open All Hours See episodes Hide episodes Full of Mysterious Promise Classic laughs with miserly shopkeeper Arkwright and his downtrodden nephew Granville. Arkwright has made a bargain purchase of dodgy fire-damaged stock. Not scheduled Not scheduled A Mattress on Wheels The great Ronnie Barker's classic shop sitcom. Granville tries to convince Arkwright that a delivery van would be a surefire way of impressing Nurse Gladys. Not scheduled Not scheduled A Nice Cosy Little Disease A visit to the Yorkshire cornershop with the vicious till - classic comedy as English as afternoon tea. Arkwright fakes an ailment to get to Nurse Gladys.

Not scheduled Not scheduled Beware of the Dog The corner shop comedy with a dream team cast of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Arkwright takes action when his shop is broken into and employs a large guard dog. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Well Catered Funeral The great Ronnie Barker plays the miserly Arkwright, who has to leave his shop for a few hours to attend a friend's funeral. Think of the drop in takings... Not scheduled Not scheduled Apples and Self Service Corner shop comedy pairing those two masters of the sitcom, Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Arkwright has a sales drive when he over-orders on the apple front. Not scheduled See episodes Hide episodes Laundry Blues More laughs with the dream pairing of Ronnie Barker and David Jason in the classic corner shop comedy. Nurse Gladys Emmanuel has a problem with her washing machine. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Reluctant Traveller G-G-Granville can't believe his luck when the milkwoman makes a pass at him. All he has to do now is persuade Arkwright to spend the night away from the shop. Not scheduled Fig Biscuits and Inspirational Toilet Rolls Not scheduled Not scheduled The New Suit Ronnie Barker plays stammering shopkeeper Arkwright in this classic sitcom.

Here, he needs a new suit, but is too mean to buy one. Maybe Nurse Gladys has the answer. Not scheduled Not scheduled Arkwright's Mobile Store Ronnie Barker is the miserly proprietor of the famous corner shop. In another bid to impress Nurse Gladys, Arkwright buys a van to expand his business. Not scheduled Not scheduled Shedding at the Wedding Vintage sitcom with Ronnie Barker and David Jason. The wedding of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's niece causes embarrassment for Arkwright when he loses his trousers. Not scheduled Not scheduled St Albert's Day Big laughs with Ronnie Barker as miserly shopkeeper Arkwright. He invents a Saint's day so that Granville can check the pockets of a visitor suspected of shoplifting. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Ginger Men A dream pairing of Ronnie Barker and David Jason, together in the brilliant shop comedy. Arkwright improves the sale of an overstocked commodity with great efficiency. Not scheduled Not scheduled Duet for Solo Bicycle Classic sitcom featuring the great comedy pairing of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Arkwright is preoccupied by a persistent squeak on Granville's bike.

Not scheduled Not scheduled How to Ignite Your Errand Boy Solid gold comedy as put-upon Granville is given the task of making home-made firelighters, an essential ingredient being his shredded disco shirt. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Man from Down Under National treasure Ronnie Barker stars alongside fellow comedy icon David Jason. Arkwright has a rival for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's heart. Who could it be? Not scheduled Not scheduled The Cool Cocoa Tin Lid A typically rib-tickling episode of the shop-based sitcom. Granville tries to change his image with the help of some snappy threads and a cocoa tin medallion. Not scheduled Not scheduled Horse Trading The timeless sitcom featuring another of Ronnie Barker's wonderful comic characters. Arkwright's scheming backfires when he offloads some stock to a rival shopkeeper. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Housekeeper Caper The much-loved sitcom with the miserly shopkeeper played by the master, Ronnie Barker. Arkwright advertises for a housekeeper and outsells a Hoover salesman. Not scheduled Not scheduled Errand Boy Executive Watch your fingers in that till! Ronnie Barker's back behind the counter in the classic comedy. Granville attempts to improve his status to impress a local girl.

Not scheduled Not scheduled Happy Birthday Arkwright Classic cornershop comedy with the miserly, stammering Arkwright and long-suffering nephew. Nurse Gladys poses as a customer from the 'Good Shop Guide'. Not scheduled Not scheduled The Mystical Boudoir of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel Classic fun with legend Ronnie Barker and writer Roy Clarke. Will Arkwright finally get the nursing attention he so desperately needs? Not scheduled

Question: In which UK TV series did Ronnie Barker play "Arkwright" and David Jason play his nephew "Granville"?
Answer: Open All Hours