This is a list of the episodes of Open All Hours , a BBC sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. Open All Hours stars Ronnie Barker and David Jason as an uncle and nephew who operate a small grocery shop in South Yorkshire. The programme was introduced to television in 1973, as an episode of Seven of One —an anthology series that tested seven television pilots with Barker in the lead role.
The first series of Open All Hours premiered in 1976 on BBC2. The programme returned to television in 1981, this time on BBC1. The final two series also aired on BBC1, in 1982 and 1985 respectively. In all, 25 episodes were broadcast after the pilot, plus a comedy sketch that appeared in a 1982 Christmas special called The Funny Side of Christmas .
The pilot episode was directed by James Gilbert, and all subsequent episodes were directed by Sydney Lotterby.[ citation needed ] Ronnie Barker died in 2005, but in 2013, BBC1 (which had since rebranded to BBC One) launched a sequel titled Still Open All Hours . Roy Clarke writes the new series, with Dewi Humphreys directing. David Jason reprises his role as Granville, now in charge of the shop.
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | |||
| 1 | 6 | 20 February 1976 | 26 March 1976 | |
| 2 | 7 | 1 March 1981 | 19 April 1981 | |
| 3 | 6 | 21 March 1982 | 25 April 1982 | |
| 4 | 6 | 1 September 1985 | 6 October 1985 | |
The Open All Hours pilot was the first episode of Ronnie Barker's 1973 comedy anthology series, Seven of One . It was one of two episodes that the BBC developed into a series; the other, "Prisoner and Escort", became the BBC1 sitcom Porridge , which premiered in 1974. The first series of Open All Hours began on BBC2 in 1976.
The exterior shots in the main series were filmed at a different location than in the pilot: The corner of Lister Avenue and Scarth Avenue in Doncaster.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Open All Hours" | James Gilbert | Roy Clarke | 25 March 1973 | |
Arkwright hears that Gladys Emmanuel has another man. ("Couldn't you clasp me to your bosom?") Granville wants a van to meet ladies. Featuring: Yootha Joyce (Mrs Scully), Keith Chegwin (customer), Sheila Brennan (Nurse Gladys Emmanuel), David Valla (bread man) | |||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Running time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Full of Mysterious Promise" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 20 February 1976 | 28:45 | |
| When not in pursuit of Gladys Emanuel, the district nurse who lives opposite the shop, Arkwright is ever on the look-out to save money, such as buying a load of fire-damaged tinned food. Unfortunately, the damage means that all the labels have come off, so nobody knows exactly what they are meant to be buying. Lynda Baron replaced Sheila Brennan as Gladys Emanuel, a role she played throughout the series and the first two series of the sequel Still Open All Hours. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "A Mattress on Wheels" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 27 February 1976 | 29:23 | |
| Fed up with having to do deliveries for the shop in all weathers on his bike Granville suggests that Arkwright invest in a van, but Arkwright's always been dead against getting a van, until Granville points out the advantages of taking a lady friend for a drive. His uncle still balks at the expense, but it could be a means of impressing Nurse Gladys. So Arkwright buys a second hand one and Granville wishes he hadn't when he takes it out on the road. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "A Nice Cosy Little Disease" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 5 March 1976 | 30:05 | |
| Arkwright feels that Nurse Gladys has been neglecting him and, in order to get her undivided attention, he must come down with a 'disease', nothing too serious, just something that will have her lavishing attention on him. Perhaps a nice cosy little disease on Arkwright's part would be just the thing to attract the ministrations of a certain district nurse? She sees through the ruse and is ready to beat him at his own game. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Beware of the Dog" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 12 March 1976 | 28:36 | |
| A crime wave scares an already security-obsessed Arkwright – the shop has to be fortified. Arkwright decides to scare off any potential burglars by putting up a notice that says Beware of the Dog but, since everybody knows that he has no dog, he goes out to borrow one for the weekend from the local kennels. Sadly it is better at scaring off customers than burglars. | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Well Catered Funeral" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 19 March 1976 | 29:58 | |
| Arkwright goes with Nurse Gladys to the funeral of his friend Parsloe. He's not keen to leave Granville in charge but it does afford the opportunity to get rid of some unwanted bakery products for the wake. Having rung the shop constantly to ensure that Granville has got things under control he later tells him he should get out more - as this will give Arkwright more opportunity with Nurse Gladys. But his best friend's funeral tests Arkwright's generosity. | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Apples and Self Service" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 26 March 1976 | 29:55 | |
| Arkwright has bought too many apples and desperately tries in vain to persuade each successive customer to buy some. After raising eyebrows around town after finding a pair of shop window dummy's legs, Granville tells his uncle he should adopt the personal touch in his sales methods. Arkwright, however, plumps for self-service and then suspects everyone of trying to shop-lift. | |||||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Running time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "Laundry Blues" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 1 March 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| Nurse Gladys feels sorry for Granville, struggling to do the laundry by hand, and suggests to Arkwright that he buys a washing-machine. Arkwright wants to keep the affections of Gladys but does not want to spend too much money, so he makes sure she sees a brand-new machine being delivered - which is then taken away and replaced by an elderly second hand one. Exposure follows, especially when an ill-tempered Pakistani VAT man comes to the shop. NB : A mistake was left in the episode as the picture of a topless woman can be seen when Granville is looking in the motor accessory shop window display. | |||||||
| 8 | 2 | "The Reluctant Traveller" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 8 March 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| 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 from the shop, has booked himself and Nurse Gladys into a hotel just round the corner - but Arkwright still refuses to part with his precious money, and resorts to an over-tight money belt, which makes him walk funny. | |||||||
| 9 | 3 | "Fig Biscuits and Inspirational Toilet Rolls" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 15 March 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright's marketing genius comes to the fore as he tries to shift some over-stocked items. Whilst Granville moans about the shop opening at dawn Arkwright bewails his inability to sell a load of fig biscuits and toilet rolls imprinted with inspirational texts. The opportunity arises when regular customer Mavis mistakes the sepulchral voice of Granville in the cellar for a ghost advising her what to buy but sadly for Arkwright he falls through the open trap door and breaks his leg. | |||||||
| 10 | 4 | "The New Suit" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 22 March 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright has to buy a new suit – on Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's say so. She is tired of being seen around with a shabby Arkwright so Nurse Gladys gives him an ultimatum and tells him that he must buy a new suit...or else. But will he be able to part with the money, or is there another, cheaper, option? | |||||||
| 11 | 5 | "Arkwright's Mobile Store" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 29 March 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright proves his ambition by expanding the business... he buys an old ice-cream van. All of this in order to convince Nurse Gladys that he is a man of enterprise. The mobile shop is to be driven around by Granville, but, given Arkwright's customary meanness, the best that he can come up with the clapped out ice cream van, leading to Granville having a close encounter with some perishables. | |||||||
| 12 | 6 | "Shedding at the Wedding" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 5 April 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| 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 hang it out of the car window as they drive along but the trousers end up under a tractor's wheels. Thank goodness Nurse Gladys is wearing a trouser suit or there might have been some explaining to do. | |||||||
| 13 | 7 | "St Albert's Day" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 19 April 1981 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright has always told Granville his father was a Hungarian but then a real Hungarian comes into the shop. Could it be him? Arkwright is more concerned that he may be a shop-lifter and hits on a cunning plan to part him from his jacket so that he can search the pockets for evidence. Welcome to the mythical feast day of St. Albert, which Arkwright has invented so that Granville can check the pockets of a foreign visitor who he suspects of shoplifting. | |||||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Running time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "An Errand Boy by the Ear" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 21 March 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| There are protests when Arkwright is caught dragging Granville around by his ear. Arkwright's baffled when his customers get upset with his treatment of Granville and reasons that this is what errand boys are for, but the customers choose to differ and force Arkwright to improve his nephew's lot in life - which proves to be a struggle for the tight shopkeeper. | |||||||
| 15 | 2 | "The Ginger Men" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 28 March 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| Why is Arkwright forcing his ginger cake upon Nurse Gladys? Could it be he has overstocked? 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, which has the customers fighting to get at them. If it really is an old Jamaican aphrodisiac, why is Granville acting like he's overdosed? | |||||||
| 16 | 3 | "Duet for Solo Bicycle" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 4 April 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| When a smartly dressed man comes to the shop asking for directions, Arkwright is concerned that the love of his life is seeing another whilst Granville's love life is also suffering. It is bad enough that when he goes with Wendy, he only has a bike with which to impress her - but the bike has a squeak, which he can't get rid of and it is driving Granville round the bend, but can it really be affecting his love-life? | |||||||
| 17 | 4 | "How to Ignite Your Errand Boy..." | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 11 April 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright considers yet another money-making scheme for his local shoppers to escape. Everybody seems to want fire-lighters in the winter so he can save cash by making his own - or rather getting Granville to make them in the shed at the back. But Arkwright's plan to make his own fire lighters has a snag, they may be somewhat dangerous to make... With rather explosive results. | |||||||
| 18 | 5 | "The Man from Down Under" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 18 April 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| When one of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's admirers returns from Australia, Arkwright proffers a real Yorkshire welcome. Arkwright learns that a former beau of Nurse Gladys is returning from Australia, where he emigrated a couple of decades ago to make his fortune. Naturally Arkwright is not happy to think that Nurse Gladys might be tempted by her old flame and sets about to take drastic action with the man he believes to be his rival. | |||||||
| 19 | 6 | "The Cool Cocoa Tin Lid" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 25 April 1982 | 30 minutes | |
| Fed up with always wearing tank-tops and shop pinnies Granville decides to court a cool image. He's got the open necked shirt and the shades, but where's a poor errand boy going to find a medallion? Perhaps a cocoa tin lid can provide a substitute. | |||||||
This eight-minute short subject was broadcast as a segment of a 1982 Christmas special called The Funny Side of Christmas . One of the other segments of the programme was devoted to a comedy sketch for Only Fools and Horses , another sitcom in which David Jason co-stars.
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Running time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Open All Seasons"[ citation needed ] | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 27 December 1982 | 10 minutes | |
| On Christmas morning, Granville is looking forward to dinner at Nurse Gladys's, but Arkwright is annoyed that her mother is still alive. Granville also reveals he is having tea later with the newly separated 'Wavy Mavis'. In the typical closing thought, Arkwright bemoans the fact that Jesus was born on a Bank Holiday, resulting in his having to close the shop. | |||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Running time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | "Soulmate Wanted" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 1 September 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| Granville is desperate for female company, decides it is high time he did something about his single status and places an advert in the lonely-hearts column of a magazine. He gets a result but he feels he must lie about himself to the girl in question and presents himself as a yuppie. Of course, Arkwright will go and ruin it for him. | |||||||
| 21 | 2 | "Horse-Trading" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 8 September 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright has a rival corner shop owner Mr. Gupta, so he sends Granville undercover - in a sari - to check him out. Arkwright believes he can get one over on his rival by selling him a load of genuine Yorkshire clothes horses, but he has reckoned without Mr. Gupta's business skills and offloads the Yorkshire clothes horses on the local Asian shopkeeper with unexpected results. | |||||||
| 22 | 3 | "The Housekeeper Caper" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 17 September 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright advertises for a live-in housekeeper. Arkwright believes that he can make Nurse Gladys jealous if he has a live-in housekeeper, so he places the advert. Unfortunately, this only succeeds in attracting the attention of formidable Mrs. Featherstone, the Black Widow herself. Nurse Gladys is not jealous, and Granville is certainly not happy with the unfolding situation, and nor is Arkwright. | |||||||
| 23 | 4 | "The Errand Boy Executive" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 22 September 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| Stephanie, a young lady from the boutique, has caught Granville's eye. Anxious to impress Stephanie, he passes himself off as a young executive, claiming that Arkwright is his "faithful old assistant". His uncle is less than happy with this idea and goes about trying to set things straight, even if it means ruining Granville's chances. | |||||||
| 24 | 5 | "Happy Birthday, Arkwright!" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 29 September 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| What does Arkwright want for his birthday? Certainly not a visit from the man from the Good Shop Guide! Nurse Gladys plays a trick on Arkwright, helped by Granville. They persuade the shop-keeper that a man representing the Good Shop-keepers' Guide is in the area, awarding bonuses to shops whose staff show extra courtesy. She then dresses as a male shop inspector and visits Arkwright's shop, where she is greeted with unusual civility. | |||||||
| 25 | 6 | "The Mystical Boudoir of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel" | Sydney Lotterby | Roy Clarke | 6 October 1985 | 30 minutes | |
| Arkwright will do anything to get himself into Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's bedroom, including the use of a ladder and a box of chocolates. Meanwhile, Granville takes to wearing tights on his head. Arkwright has a cunning plan to use Granville to impersonate a burglar, wearing his stocking mask to scare Nurse Gladys so that Arkwright can come running... into her room. Granville is sick of trapping his hand in the dangerous old till and wants his uncle to buy a new one. | |||||||
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Sir David John White, known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Detective Inspector Jack Frost in A Touch of Frost, Granville in Open All Hours and Still Open All Hours, and Pop Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, as well as voicing Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, the BFG in the 1989 film, and the title characters of Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. His most recent appearance in the role of Del Boy was in 2014; he retired his role as Frost in 2010. He voices Captain Skipper, the uncle of Pip in the preschool focused series Pip Ahoy!
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. Alan J. W. Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show from late 1981 to 2010. The BBC confirmed on 2 June 2010 that Last of the Summer Wine would no longer be produced and the 31st series would be its last. Subsequently, the final episode was broadcast on 29 August 2010. Since its original release, all 295 episodes, comprising thirty-one series—including the pilot and all films and specials—have been released on DVD. Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on BBC One, Gold, Yesterday, and Drama. It is also seen in more than 25 countries, including various PBS stations in the United States and on VisionTV in Canada. With the exception of programmes 'rebooted' after long hiatuses, Last of the Summer Wine is the longest-running TV comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running TV sitcom in the world.
Ronald William George Barker was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours.
Open All Hours is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme was 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, began airing in 2013.
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.
Ronald Balfour Corbett was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies. He achieved prominence in David Frost's 1960s satirical comedy programme The Frost Report and subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Here, and Sorry!.
The Two Ronnies is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, serial stories and musical finales.
David Peter Renwick is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek. He was awarded the Writers Guild Ronnie Barker Award at the 2008 British Comedy Awards.
Richard Arthur Beckinsale was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC sitcom Porridge and Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom Rising Damp. He is the father of actresses Samantha and Kate Beckinsale.
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 127 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and particularly Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010. In all, 27 sitcoms started from a pilot in the Comedy Playhouse strand.
Seven of One was a British comedy series that aired on BBC2 in 1973. Starring Ronnie Barker, Seven of One was a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms. Originally it was to be called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called And Half a Dozen of the Other. This was a BBC equivalent of a similar showcase for London Weekend Television called Six Dates with Barker created in 1971.
Royston Clarke OBE, usually known as Roy Clarke, is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances, Open All Hours and its sequel series, Still Open All Hours.
Lilian Ridgway, known professionally as Lynda Baron, was an English actress and singer. She is best known for having played Nurse Gladys Emmanuel in the BBC sitcom Open All Hours (1976–1985) and its sequel, Still Open All Hours (2013–2016), Auntie Mabel in the award-winning children's series Come Outside (1993–1997), and the part of Linda Clarke in EastEnders in 2006 and from 2008 to 2009, with a brief return in 2016.
Derren Ronald Litten is an English comedy writer and actor, best known as the creator and writer of the sitcom Benidorm. Litten also co-wrote The Catherine Tate Show, for which he both wrote and appeared as several different characters in the first two series and the 2005 Christmas Special. He has also acted in many comedy and drama series including Perfect World, French and Saunders, Spaced, EastEnders, Coronation Street, Pie in the Sky with Richard Griffiths. Litten's first sitcom was Benidorm, which began airing on ITV in 2007. The series follows various groups of holiday makers and staff in the all-inclusive Solana resort located in Benidorm. The series received strong ratings and later extended its runtime, running for 10 series ending in 2018.
My Old Man is a sitcom starring Clive Dunn as retired and embittered engine driver Sam Cobbett. ITV broadcast 13 episodes in two series during 1974 and 1975.
His Lordship Entertains was Ronnie Barker's second vehicle for his Lord Rustless character, first seen three years earlier in Hark at Barker on ITV. This time though, Rustless appeared in a series for BBC2. Hark at Barker had also included sketch inserts, whereas His Lordship Entertains was a sitcom.
The Funny Side of Christmas is a Christmas special broadcast by BBC1 on 27 December 1982.
This is a list of British television related events from 1973.
Still Open All Hours is a British sitcom created for the BBC by Roy Clarke, and starring David Jason and James Baxter. It is the sequel to the sitcom Open All Hours, which both Clarke and Jason worked on throughout its 26-episode run from 1976 to 1985, following a 40th Anniversary Special in December 2013 commemorating the original series. The sitcom's premise focuses on the life of a much older Granville, who now runs his late uncle's grocery shop with the assistance of his son, continuing to sell products at higher prices alongside seeking to be with his love interest.
