Still Open All Hours

The final series of Open all Hours was broadcast in 1985 when it also got its largest audience. Two years later Ronnie Barker retired from show business.

After the failure of The Royal Bodyguard, David Jason has gone back to one of his past comedy vehicles while writer Roy Clarke is hoping to recapture his past magic. That seemed to have been frittered away in endless recycling of plots in the latter years of The Last of the Summer Wine.

Here we have an older Granville never having flown the nest with his youthful dreams. He has taken over his uncle's shop and also inherited his uncle's miserly traits.

Assisting him is his more wayward son who was abandoned by his mother. So in a bit of role reversal, Granville has become Arkwright. Fans of the late Ronnie Barker will have to make do with a large picture of Arkwright who David Jason talks to.

This one off was largely a series of sketches with a host of guest stars popping in and some of the older cast members as well. So you have one of the Chuckle brothers, Nina Wadia, Johnny Vegas and old stalwarts such as Maggie Ollerenshaw, Stephanie Cole and Lynda Baron.

The episode was one of the highest rated shows at Christmas 2013 and a regular series followed.

Unfortunately writer Roy Clarke who is in his 80s set his word processor in Auto Recycle mode when the new episodes followed!

Why did the writers make Granville exactly like Arkwright, Granville wouldnt be like that he was carefree, he was the complete oppersite to his uncle, they even made him look like him just without a stutter, it might as well just have been called Open all hours again, just a shame they didnt write for Granville instead of Arkwright

As a lifelong fan of the original series I was delighted when they announced this was being made. I can't lie and say I find it scream out loud humour, but it is funny enough, it's the kind of show that fills the void left by Last of the Summer Wine. A nice floaty light, humorous show to have chicken sandwiches and cheesecake while watching. It has glimpses of the original magic, there are times when it's quite funny, the true laughs come from the original cast members, Lynda Baron and Stephanie Cole are still great. Maggie Ollerenshaw still manages to inject a bit of magic as Mavis.

I think the first episode remains the funniest, since then we've had a few duffs, and a few good ones, it's one of those shows I'm glad is still on.

It's watchable enough, but it's massively missing Ronnie Barker. 6/10

Open All Hours still stands as one of my favourite TV comedy shows. I had never really been interested in even checking out the rerun series. And I can't believe that its actually run now for 5 series. Curiosity however finally got the better of me, and I have now seen a couple of episodes. I can't believe that David Jason is trying to emulate Ronnie Barker, in his portrayal of the mature Granville. But it's like a rerun of their original dynamic, with Granville acting towards the young assistant, as Arkwright had towards him. I hope this is not the case, as with the best will in the world, David Jason is no Ronnie Barker. In the rerun we have some of the same characters from the original series. Granville of course, with Wavy Mavis, as uncertain as ever. And the Black Widow as predatory as ever, now with a glint in her eye for Granville. I can't really speak that much of the rerun as I have not watched that many episodes. But here goes anyway, it seems to have become something of a Mecca for comedy actors. With a range from the older through to the younger, that I can't help but recognise. It always makes for an entertaining view for someone my age, in remembering actors, and what they have appeared in. But this hardly compensates for what should be there anyway, and its not to my mind as funny as the original. Even the peerless Roy Clark has his work cut out, to hope to emulate his previous success.

The overfed comatose state that comes with overindulging at Christmas tends to provide some cover for television specials that maybe wouldn't get away with it during the rest of the year. Still Open All Hours was screened during this period and just at a glance it seemed like it just the type of thing that needs that festive goodwill. Out of curiosity I decided to give it a go but unfortunately I do not think I would ever have had enough festive cheer for this to work. This special sees Granville now running Arkwight's corner store, with his lad Leroy filling the errand boy role. During the normal working day we see the colorful locals coming and going while Granville uses some old Arkwright trickery to shift a load of fish paste.

I did used to watch Open All Hours many years ago and I remember doing so more than once, so I must have enjoyed it but this rehashed special makes me doubt whether it was actually any good or not, because this 30 minute special certainly wasn't. The episodic nature of the show means we have locals coming and going and preventing any flow in the writing. On top of this the focus is on throwbacks and references to the original series, whether they work or not. Mostly the comedy is very dated which I guess comes with the territory but isn't really an excuse; it all seems very stiff and awkward as well. I think I laughed twice in 30 minutes, and those laughs were more chuckles than anything else – a Chuckle Brother being pulled around by a dog got me and the Johnny Vegas about "solo trumpet". Luckily the canned audience track had a much better time than I did – although their laughter at almost nothing and their "awww-ing" over a dog just reminded me that I wasn't making any noise.

The cast features a lot of faces and names; Jason is so-so, he overworks his lines as if the audience is slow and he really doesn't have the material anyway. Baxter's delivery is pretty poor and seems to be hamming it up a bit, perhaps assuming that this makes whatever he does funnier. Cole, Vegas, Williams and others all provide side characters and also contribute to the fragmented feel to the show. Maybe you have enough nostalgia to laugh because of what they are referencing (as opposed to laughing at the reference, which I think was the goal) but for me this was a pretty awkward and dated 30 minutes with a couple of chuckles amid a sea of poor writing and even festive cheer and nostalgia aren't enough to make me forgiving enough for this to work.