Still Open All Hours series confirmed
After Arkwright’s Doncaster shop re-opened with Granville at the helm last Christmas, David Jason will return for a six-part series of the show on BBC1 later this year
Still Open All Hours will return for a six-part series later this year, the BBC has confirmed.
The comedy starring David Jason, a 21st Century return to Roy Clarke’s classic sitcom Open All Hours, ran as a one-off special on Boxing Day 2013 attracting a sizeable consolidated audience of 12.2m viewers on BBC1. It was the most watched comedy on the BBC since The Vicar of Dibley in 2007.
Open All Hours first aired on the BBC in 1973 and ran for 26 episodes over four series until 1985. Starring the late Ronnie Barker as a miserly Yorkshire shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, the show followed the turbulent relationship between Barker’s character and his nephew Granville, played by David Jason.
Still Open All hours sees Jason reprise the role of Granville, now running the shop with his son Leroy, played by James Baxter.
David Jason said: “I am so delighted that we are doing a series of Still Open All Hours as the feedback from our Christmas Special has been so rewarding and encouraging. We want to have more fun giving the audience the kind of show they seemed to appreciate. It goes to prove that the corner shop is still open all hours.”
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Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning, said: “The resounding success of the Christmas revival showed the huge and enduring audience affection for this much-loved classic. Roy has done a terrific job of updating the characters whilst keeping what was warm-hearted and enjoyable about the world of the original series.”
Still Open All Hours is expected to air on BBC1 late in 2014.
