Open All Hours
| Open All Hours | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Roy Clarke |
| Directed by | Sydney Lotterby |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Joseph Ascher |
| Opening theme | "Alice, Where Art Thou?" |
| Ending theme | "Alice, Where Art Thou?" |
| Composer(s) | Max Harris |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
James Gilbert (pilot episode) |
| Producer(s) | Sydney Lotterby (1973–1985) |
| Location(s) | England |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
|
| Picture format | PAL (576i) (1976–1985) |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 23 March 1973 – 6 October 1985 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Still Open All Hours |
| Related shows | Seven of One |
| External links | |
| Open All Hours at BBC Comedy | |
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.
The setting is 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 for selling. His nephew Granville (David Jason) is his put-upon errand boy, who blames his work schedule for his lacklustre social life.
Across the road lives Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron), 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.
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, 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 shop having bought at least one thing, and will avoid spending his own money at all costs. 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".
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