Open All Hours: A Celebration

He was the tight-fisted shopkeeper who just love to con his customers.

Well, that'll be 97p, love.

Thank you.

Oh, d-don't bother about the 3p, y-you can owe it me.

Oh, right.

With his trusty nephew and long-suffering assistant...

LAUGHTER

I'm the errand boy from outer space.

..and a gaggle of gossiping regulars...

I'll have a large sliced loaf.

..it was the ultimate one-stop shop.

No, I'll take a small one.

In the next half-hour,

we'll reveal why this hilarious show's quirky characters...

You can't move round here for grocers in your bosom.

..classic catchphrases...

G-Granville, f-f-fetch your cloth!

MOCKING: "Granville, f-f-fetch your cloth!"

..and slapstick comedy...

CLATTERING

..made it a national treasure.

Stop or I'll f-f-f-f-f...! Oh!

Five...four...

Plus we will be going behind-the-scenes

of a brand-new episode...

Action!

BELL CHIMES

..to take an inside look at the remaking

of a British comedy classic.

I look like a muffin, don't I?

OI! Ah! Ooh!

And to discover whether they can create a real Christmas cracker.

I don't usually do much for Christmas but,

under the circumstances...

Ah!

Welcome to a celebration of one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms.

But it isn't Christmas yet! It feels like it to me.

Doncaster, a town at the heart of the Industrial Revolution

and with a proud history based on coal mining and the railways.

In the back streets of Balby sits

what looks like an ordinary hair salon

but, in fact, it has a very special place in British TV history.

When you look back at all of the photographs and that,

they were good times then, weren't they? They were.

Ronnie Barker and David Jason, I mean, they were very friendly.

They were all very friendly.

Nearly 30 years ago,

Helen Ibbotson's hairdressers was the location for Arkwright's store.

And was the most famous corner shop in the country.

When they used to come to come, they came with big catering vans

and big limousines. It was a big, spectacular thing.

Loads of people came to watch it.

Packed, packed with people.

Now there's fresh buzz in the air.

The BBC is planning a new one-off Christmas special of Open All Hours

and soon the salon will once again

be transformed into Arkwright's shop.

I'll be interested to see them all, anyway.

Never thought we'd be doing this again, did we, love? No, we didn't.

The idea to set a sitcom in a working-class community

in Yorkshire first emerged in 1973.

Writer Roy Clarke was approached by the BBC

to script two new comedies for Ronnie Barker.

And it was Ronnie himself who came up with the idea

of setting one of them in a corner shop.

He said, "I've always wanted to play

"one of these little shopkeepers that sell everything.

And that was good news to me because...

my wife was raised in exactly that kind of situation

and, at one time, when I was still teaching,

she ran a little corner shop.

Roy's experience inspired him to create a man

who would soon become Britain's most famous shopkeeper.

Enter miserly grocer Albert Arkwright.

It was obvious from word one that Ronnie as a shopkeeper

was going to be tight-fisted

and going to be an old Scrooge as far as he can.

And this is where you get the magic of someone like Ronnie.

In other hands, that could have been a real mean old scrote

that nobody took to at all

but Ronnie could pull that off and people still liked him.

Hey, G-G-Granville. Have you been courting again?

Fat chance! We don't close till nine.

Mrs Scully said it c-could have been you

she saw coming out of their Margaret...

You what? ..'s place on Frith Street.

Let me finish, will you?

Open All Hours first hit our screens as a pilot show in March 1973

but, even though it was set in the north, the very first episode

was actually shot in the streets of Ealing in London.

When it came to casting Arkwright's nephew and errand boy, Granville,

Ronnie knew the perfect man.

My relationship with Ronnie was built over many years.

I suppose our timing was so good, we relied on each other so much.

TILL SNAPS SHUT

LAUGHTER

That'll have somebody yet, that. I dread opening that till.

I just know, one of these days,

I'm going to find somebody's fingers in there.

Mine!

The on-screen double act

of Arkwright and Granville worked instantly.

But making a northern-based comedy in the capital

lacked the right feel for the show's producers.

Wherever you go in London, whatever location you choose,

it reeks of London somehow.

It doesn't seem to be the North of England.

So, three years later,

when they were commissioned to make a full series...

GLASS SHATTERS

..they decided to move it north.

Now its soon-to-be-famous corner shop

was firmly set in Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

BELL CHIMES

G-Granville! F-F-Fetch your cloth!

Along with well-known catchphrases,

the show featured an array of colourful characters

who would soon become family favourites.

There she goes, Granville, N-Nurse Gladys Emmanuel,

with her black bag neatly laundered and her b-b-blouse tightly packed.

Take your time, Mavis,

we can't rush a decision like this.

Large loaf or small?

Three pounds odd for a little bag of groceries like that?!

Well, I can p-put it in a bigger bag for you, if you like.

Ey oop, it's the Black Widow.

She'd put the fear of God into God.

'Gladys Emmanuel...'

I think she burnt her bra when she was 12.

You know, she was having no nonsense from anybody.

She was her own woman.

I like that blouse you've got on there.

Ooh, I'd l-like to browse through that blouse.

One afternoon, when it's wet, you know?

I'll send it over next time I wash it.

Arkwright's obsession and constant pursuit of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel

is one of the show's longest-running themes.

Not often you g-get extras like that on a Morris M-Minor.

It was an ongoing gladiatorial game.

And I think she liked that in him.

By heck, she affects me powerfully, that woman.

S-S-Something in the way she moves.

Like a combine harvester going through a cornfield.

But, for every love interest...

..there was a love rival.

She never cracks a smile.

She's very close, very quiet, very stealthy.

Um, slightly threatening.

A little bit sinister, even.

Good day to you, Mrs Featherstone. Is it?

Maybe it is if you're young and daft.

She's like a Sherman tank, actually.

Moving inexorably onwards, all encased in black camouflage.

BELL CHIMES Oh...

Th-The Widow F-Featherstone.

And what can we do for you that's b-brisk and impersonal

and n-not necessarily inexpensive?

Oh, it'll be inexpensive. I never waste me money.

She was definitely after Arkwright.

More probably because he was very good with his money.

Arkwright, though, was ready to dodge her advances.

Are we alone?

No. No, we're not alone. No. I have men here. I have men...

men working...

working in the, er... in the cellar.

Men working.

HE KNOCKS LIKE A HAMMER

There they are.

In fact, Arkwright only had eyes for one woman.

She was violently jealous.

As she said, he was blinded by a bigger bosom.

Why...

LAUGHTER

..that's f-fresh from the oven!

What is it?

I don't know, but if you've got any to spare, I'll take the lot.

My bosom was padded out with the wardrobe mistress's socks,

which will ruin the image for half of England, won't it?

SHE LAUGHS

Dropping into Britain's busiest corner shop

was a steady stream of oddball customers

who became the lifeblood of the show.

Argh!

Basically, what you've got there is a little theatre.

These guys pop in, do their turn and then go.

There we are, two pints of extra strong exportable

and an ounce of black shag. There we are.

LAUGHTER

Now then, anything for Mr Brocklesby this evening?

Much like the inspiration for the corner shop,

many of Roy Clarke's larger-than-life personalities

were based on people he'd observed.

There has to be, for me,

some kind of link with reality for the character to work.

I'd better have a tin of, er...

soup.

Usually, you get 40 percent from one guy

and maybe the rest from another one.

L-L-Large or small?

Large.

No, small.

The way that he has created some of these really wonderfully

eccentric characters... Well, he's a sort of one-off.

I haven't got a small tin. I only have a large tin.

Oh.

Well, I c-c-can't cut them in half, Mavis!

LAUGHTER

It all f-flops out, you see.

I tell you what I will do, I'll sell you o-one large tin

and I'll only charge you for t-two small tins.

Oh, thank you, Mr Arkwright.

For the actress playing Mavis,

a real-life shopping trip was never the same again.

I always had to make sure that I knew exactly what I wanted,

otherwise, you know, I'd get a barrage of funny comments

about being indecisive.

SHE LAUGHS

Every week, customers would come and go,

but much of the comedy flowed from two characters

who rarely left the shop.

The big asset in that show

was the chemistry between Granville and Arkwright.

Well? How much?

I'm thinking, I'm thinking!

Come on. My arms are aching up here.

And my w-wallet's aching down here!

It was a writer's dream from word one because, I mean,

looking at the thing calmly, you know, afterwards,

where are you going to get a talent like Ronnie Barker

and a talent like David Jason in one show?

You're never, ever going to get it again.

Well? How much?

28p.

Are you sure?

Get it writ at 28p-p-p-p!

Ronnie Barker wasn't one of those people

who wanted inferior people around him to make himself feel better.

You know, he liked having David there because he was funny and fast.

BELL CHIMES

LAUGHTER

Make it 29.

He was a typical tightwad but, in Ronnie Barker's expert hands,

Arkwright became the nation's most lovable shopkeeper.

'Ronnie makes it look so easy.'

That is how clever he is.

Because not everybody can do it.

And not everybody can do it with the ease

with which Ronnie was capable of doing it.

Get your helmet on the counter, will you?

That's right. Come on, Mr Bristow.

Don't worry, I'm not going to do it that way round. You're all right.

Have you saved me them half a dozen...?

OHH!

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

There goes a r-regular order for half a dozen razor blades.

Ronnie Barker had no great ego.

So he treated you as being as important as himself.

Which is, apart from being very flattering, is comforting.

Granville. HE WHISTLES

Come on. Come on. Come on, come on.

Watch this, look, the Bounty hunters. Come on, look.

Yes! You like those, don't you? Aye, lovely!

Yeah. Put your money in the till.

It was a joy and a pleasure to work with such a great man.

There was one shop regular which captivated millions

and even threatened to upstage Arkwright himself.

Oh, I hate this till! Go on, get on with it! It won't b-bite you.

Ronnie Barker used to say, "The snapping till's building its part."

You know, cos it seemed to loom larger!

TILL SNAPS SHUT

You wouldn't want to get your hands caught in it,

let me put it that way.

So you have to treat it with a great deal of respect.

The snapping till has a mind of its own. And if you...

dally with your hands in there too much,

you will lose your fingers.

TILL SNAPS SHUT Argh!

Of course, it didn't really have a mind of its own.

The assistant floor manager was on the other end

and pulled a string and, of course,

we were all frightened about catching Ronnie's fingers.

If you're going to risk that vicious spring clip, I don't want to look.

Just tell me when it's all over.

Oh, don't be daft, you only have to j-jiggle it a bit.

And once, in fact, it he did actually catch Ronnie's his fingers.

TILL SNAPS SHUT Oh!

Slapstick comedy became one of the show's key features.

And a source for some of its classic moments.

Now, listen, Granville...

If you can find the right physical bits,

that's where the belly laughs are.

A fans' favourite is when Granville

discovered some false legs dumped in a dustbin.

He sticks them out of the basket

so it looks like he's got a sort of upside-down female in there.

And then he puts them underneath his pinny

when sitting on a seat in the park.

Then he sticks them either side of a bloke underneath a car.

And it was just a great, funny sequence

and I enjoyed doing that very much.

But, for millions of viewers,

there was an even more memorable trademark of the series.

I-I-I have a d-difficulty f-formulating my words!

I think Ronnie did it brilliantly. It was utterly truthful.

It was a completely natural stutter.

It all started when we had b-b-b-b-b...

It's no good, you know I can't understand Morse code.

I used to stutter when I was a child,

so I was worried that I would join in.

There's enough dirt on there to fill The Black Hole of Ca-ca-ca...

The Black Hole of Ca-ca-ca...

The Black...

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

I think now if you had a character created who did stutter, I think you

might have a problem with that these days,

cos I think it might be seen as not politically correct.

Good morning, Mrs F-f-f-f... Jackson.

Through four series, from 1976 to 1985,

Open All Hours charmed the nation.

From Arkwright's obsession with fleecing his customers...

Last few what at the old price?

We'll worry about that when we get them inside.

..to his continuing quest to win the heart of Nurse Gladys.

Hello, Gladys Emmanuel. Nice to see you looking so cheerful.

And Granville's failed lessons in love.

OK. I'm your prisoner.

Do with me what you will. Ah!

By the mid-1980s, it was pulling in nearly 19 million viewers,

and was Britain's most popular TV show.

GUNSHOT

But suddenly, at the height of its success,

Arkwright and Granville shut up shop.

One day, Granville, all this will be yours.

Lock-lock-lock-lock stock and barrel.

It's nearly 30 years since the last series was produced,

and on the streets of Balby, filming of a brand-new episode is due

to get under way in just two days' time.

But before the cameras can start recording, a BBC set design team

needs to transform the hairdressing salon into Arkwright's store.

It's exactly as it was all those years ago.

I mean, this is mind-blowing.

You know, this is such a rare thing to happen cos what premises

has remained the same for nearly 30 years?

Plan of action - we've all arrived here at eight o'clock this morning,

and we've got chippies starting in there,

the boys are unloading the lorries

and gradually during the course of the day, the thing will evolve.

It's just an ordinary hairdresser shop, but when you see that stuck

there again you think, "Oh, he's up - he's coming back!"

Word certainly spreads fast, and the return of this iconic show

is causing quite a stir in the neighbourhood.

It's nice that, you know, they're bringing it back.

It's come home after all this time.

I mean, it's nearly 30 years since the last series were made

and so it's nice that...

I think they thought it would never happen again.

Mum used to tell me stories

that she used to come down in t'pushchair,

used to stand at the corner, or by the gulley just watching filming.

It's fantastic.

It's a British institution.

I can't wait to see it filmed.

Such is the excitement of the return of the show, others have

travelled from far and wide to catch a glimpse of this famous shop.

We've come all the way from Burton-on-Trent this morning,

and as soon as we found out this was happening we left home

and here we are an hour later outside Arkwright's emporium.

Transforming the hair salon into Arkwright's shop is a huge task,

and to make it true to life, every single detail counts.

It takes a six-person team of designers,

props-men and art directors two full days to pull off this massive

makeover, and it's only by late Sunday afternoon that they're

applying the finishing touches.

We're really well on the way now. I reckon about another hour will

see us fairly fit to be ready

for the cameras tomorrow morning bright and early.

8am, and it's the start of filming of the Christmas special.

Sir David to you!

As more than 50 crew

and production team take to the streets of Balby in Doncaster,

the crowds are already swelling.

They're beginning to shoot a new episode

for the first time since 1985.

I do feel that it can't possibly be 28 years

since the last episode of Open All Hours.

It must be yesterday afternoon.

And it's so nice to do it again.

It's such a laugh.

As though we never went away.

For the original cast members,

it's a reunion they could never have dreamed would happen.

It's great to be here back in the shop.

It's as though we'd never left it.

The delight in revisiting it is quite wonderful.

Despite heavy rain, hundreds gather in the street to witness

the first of three days' filming at the shop.

The people were so warm and receptive,

and so keen to see it back.

They stood patiently, watching us all.

Some of them stood there all day.

A couple came and said, "I used to watch you filming

"when I was a little girl and here's my daughter come to watch you today."

And that was...

It was quite moving.

Two big fans who grew up in these streets are Wayne Burton

and Jane Laing.

It's the first time they've met for 25 years,

and both have fond childhood memories about the show.

We used to sit on the step and get to play and be in the background.

How old would you have been? You're older than me, aren't you?

Ooh... Last time they come, I think it were '83.

I'd have been about 12.

Oh, I were nine. Were you?

Yeah. Showing our age now!

We are now, just a little bit.

That street felt like they owned us then

and they still feel like they own us.

DIRECTOR: And...action.

How are we, Mrs Featherstone?

Call me...Delphine.

In Roy Clarke's Christmas special,

Granville has inherited the shop from Arkwright and is now in charge,

but he's still doing battle with some very familiar faces.

Your Uncle Arkwright would turn in his grave.

He was never one for mixing business with pleasure.

Believe me, I tried.

Roy Clarke gave us so much fun and silliness in the original series and

I'm absolutely delighted to say that

his skill has not diminished one iota.

I have trained two husbands to an early grave.

It's a bit difficult for me,

cos this time I'm playing the Ronnie B part and it...

It's huge!

It's a lot of words to remember in such a short time,

so at the moment, I'm still struggling.

There's also a lot resting on the shoulders of James Baxter,

who plays Granville's son Leroy.

Coming into it,

I was and still am aware of the enormity of the show, but I just

had to take solace or take comfort

in that I am working with a legend.

David's really helped me settle in.

That'll cost ya!

You'll get it at trade price.

He's very fun to work with.

It's been a busy day's filming for the whole team.

Front cover of the Radio Times.

And they're overcome with the welcome they've

received from the people of Doncaster.

After the first few takes people were applauding in the streets.

I've never seen that happen before.

Just seems to be so many smiles everywhere.

We feel hugely welcome.

As they record the final scene of the day...

Your note arrived safely, Granville, tucked in among my groceries.

..the cast and crew know there's plenty of work still ahead of them.

'19, take two on the end.'

It's now two weeks later.

With the location filming completed, final rehearsals are under way

for the recording of the whole show in front of a live studio audience.

You leave us a few free samples and we'll see how it goes.

It's a huge day for the team and it's the first time fans

will have the chance to see the full show and deliver their verdict.

Making any comedy programme is risky.

There's always the chance that we might make something that we

think works, and nobody else agrees.

The demand for tickets has been phenomenal.

The producers have received more than 28,000 applications

for just 360 places.

So there's a lot at stake.

We all have fond memories of it,

we all loved it and I do think it's kind of ripe for a return.

So, erm, tonight's the night and we hope it goes well.

Five, four, three, two, one...

DIRECTOR: Action! BELL RINGS

The big question is - will the audience love the new episode

just as much as they did the originals?

David and I both agreed, if it's not broken, don't mend it.

So keep it as close as we can to what it was.

LAUGHTER

Warming up out there, is it?

You're a deadpan lot around here.

Something about the tone.

It's absolutely Roy Clarke.

I look like a muffin, don't I?

You look as though you could use a drink.

I do. I need a drink.

It feels very similar to the original Open All Hours.

"You need a drink," he says.

Then charges me for the bottle.

It's a lair.

"G-granville, remember, this is a lair."

And you enter at you pee-pe-peril.

It's a jungle round here.

For Roy Clarke, keeping a presence of Arkwright in the new show

was one of his biggest challenges.

A huge absence is going to be there

in everybody's mind when they see this.

And so, you might as well face it and use it.

You'll never get rid of all this anchovy paste.

Don't worry, I'll shift it.

You forget that I was ta-ta-ta-trained...

LAUGHTER

For my mind, for my money, Ronnie's still there.

I was trained by the m-m-master!

If he could see us, if he is watching, be laughing his head off.

LAUGHTER

The show's gone down a storm,

and the audience's reaction is unanimous.

Absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, absolutely great.

To see David Jason, it's a dream.

Smashing. Beautiful.

Really enjoyed it.

It might be 40 years since the very first episode...

You ta-ta-taught me some stuff!

..but it's clear that Open All Hours still holds a special

place in the heart of the nation.

It's been a great trip down memory lane for me.

Good morning, Granville.

Good morning, Mavis.

I've had a ball.

Do you know that the small grocer makes an ideal pet?

I've always know that it's very special.

Very, very special.

I think we are ready to take us to the next level.

And working on it again, of course,

you are even more aware of how clever and how funny it is.

It is the age of the cougar.

SHE GROWLS

In order to do comedy well, you have to have a sense of the ridiculous

and you have to have a sense of fun.

Lower your end.

The story of my life.

So put those elements all together and you can't wait to get back to

work really, because it's not like work, it's just like having a party.

Ladies and gentlemen, the price is wrong!

Granville, come on down!

I think Open All Hours was unique.

I don't believe that any of us

knew that it would stand the test of time the way it has.

Bl-bl-bl-bl...

Bl-bl-bloody burglars!

It's held in affection, I think.

I think that's the secret of its success.

It's held in great affection.

Now, isn't it time silly old fools were in bed?

Thought you'd n-never ask!