In what will possibly be the BBC’s flagship show for Christmas 2013, Sir David Jason will fill Granville’s shoes one more time in Still Open All Hours, nearly 30 years after the last series.
The one-off, 30 minute special will take viewers back to that famous corner shop, once run by Ronnie Barker as Albert Arkwright. Oh and in case your wondering, that’s not a typing error. For reasons beyond our comprehension, Ronnie was never made a Sir.
Plus it’s hard to imagine a true episode of Open All Hours without Arkwright and his comedy stammer. You do have to question the credibility and justification in bringing back a much loved comedy without its key character, especially for the sake of half an hours TV time. Let’s hope the comeback does more than simply serve as a reminder of how great a comic actor Ronnie Barker was, and how great the show used to be.
Anyway, this years Christmas special will see the grocery store now run by Granville as it exists today, having inherited it from his uncle.
In addition to Sir David Jason, the show will also see the return of original cast members Lynda Baron as nurse Gladys Emmanuel and Maggie Ollerenshaw playing indecisive customer, Mavis.
Also doing his bit to keep this Decembers episode true to the first four series will be Roy Clarke, Open All Hours original writer. Clarke who will script the special told the BBC “This has been fun – a great opportunity to work with David Jason again and to suggest how things at that corner shop might look today.”
This classic British sitcom last aired an original show back in 1985, its 26th but no longer final episode.
Although there’s nothing new about nostalgia, when it comes to Christmas TV programming. It does kinda point out again, they don’t make um like they used to.
