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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
The series showed northern England in its Blackest humour., 13 March 1999
Author: POM-3 from Adelaide

G,gggranville, very capably played by the very naive David Jason, playing as the assistant to Ronnie Barker, playing the tight fisted, finger on the scales "Arkwright" whose life revolved around nurse Ggggggladys and cast with the most amazing cash register come man trap the producer could find. The series showed northern England in its Blackest humour. Granville's dreams about even hold a woman in his arms were so sensitively acted. Good clean fun with no violence, filth or malice. A great show.

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12 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
G-Granville, fer-fer-fetch your cloth!, 12 February 2005
Author: IridescentTranquility from Lancashire, United Kingdom

If you're an outgoing young man, always trying to impress your peers and increase your knowledge of the opposite sex, how on earth are you going to manage it with a squeaky antique shop bike, a vicious finger-eating till and a pinny?

Well, Granville's problems don't matter to his uncle Arkwright, the meanest shopkeeper alive. Meet the man to whom modern technology is so expensive that he won't even satisfy Granville's burning desire for a new till (hopefully electronic). This is the man who wouldn't even spend £222.22 (check the episode Laundry Blues for that one) just to prove to long- desired fiancée Nurse Gladys Emmanuel that his home appliances are up-to-the-minute.

There are too many classic episodes to mention (memorable ones include the cocoa tin lid, the suit with the zip fly and Granville posing as a prowler that fails to even confuse Nurse Gladys, never mind scare her). As with Fawlty Towers, small details at the beginning of each episode come together at the end to round off each story nicely. A classic comedy from the BBC that started before I was born and is still great.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Gentle and often hilarious British sitcom, 8 March 2004
Author: TC Raymond from Above Arkwright's

Ronnie Barker turns in another stunning performance as Albert Arkwright, the meanest man alive, in this under-rated sitcom about a no-nonsense Northern shopkeeper, his buxom fiancee and his dreamy, accident-prone nephew. The entire cast are good, the scripts mostly tight and inventive and the production design (especially the interior sets) is of a high standard, but the details really make it come alive - Wavy Mavis, the world's most indecisive consumer; Mrs Featherstone, the 'Black Widow'; humourless gossipmonger Mrs Blewitt; gullible loudmouth Cyril, conned into thinking Jamaican ginger cake is an aphrodisiac; names like Scrooby, Parsloe and Micklethwaite; the sympathetic milkwoman; the lethal cash register...I could go on. Despite the occasional duff episode, Open All Hours belongs in the top drawer of British sitcom, alongside Fawlty and Steptoe.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Great British Sitcom!, 28 April 2001
Author: GrantCAGE from Liverpool, ENGLAND

This is a great comedy where all the characters are perfectly cast and the gags are inventive. It's a fantastic comedy! Ronnie Barker is really funny in this with his s-s-sss-s-stutter and David Jason is great as Arkwright's nephew Granville. Although overall I prefer Only Fools and Horses, this is light-hearted, down-to-earth, everyday fun with plenty of double-meanings and an overall bright sense of humour in which you'll really delight. Great fun!

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
"Open all hours", 21 October 2007
10/10
Author: e-b-nichols from United States

Open all hours is one of my favorite Roy Clarke shows. I have every episodes and replay them all the time. I also have all of the episodes of "Last of the Summer Wine". I also have most of the episodes of "First of the summer Wine". I am a fan of Roy Clarke and I hope he goes on forever. The so called comedy in the USA does not take up any of my precious time. Thank the LORD for British Comedy and British Mysteries. We have three PBS stations in my area of Arlington Virginia. They all show British Comedy and mysteries. This gives all of the Brit fans a nice weekend of TV watching. It is worth the small fee we pay to be a member and get all of the latest news. Liz Nichols

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
G-G-Granville....Fetch your cloth, 26 January 2005
Author: leggat from United Kingdom

This is one of the best British sitcoms of all time and comes close to the likes of Porridge and Fawlty Towers.

It's basically about a shopkeeper, Arkwright, who is a tight fisted old miser and is constantly trying to seek great attention from nurse Gladys Emanuel, his neighbour and so-called fiancé. Arkright runs a grocers shop on a quiet little street, set in early 1970's Doncaster.

Each episode is mainly about the day-to-day running of the shop and Arkwrights' constant banter and disagreements with Granville, his nephew, employee and whipping boy. Granville is still a boy at heart, thanks to his uncle, who won't let him grow up. He is paid a pittance and is kept firmly at bay by his uncle from loose woman and any other form of socializing.

The funniest moments in the show are the lengths Mr Arkwright will go to sell his products. He will say just about anything to get his customers to spend their hard earned dosh in his shop. But the dialogue between all characters is superb and it's clearly a well written series.

As the viewer, you really get used to the regular customers in the shop, and it's hilarious to see them be minipulated into buying items they didn't come in for.

10 Out Of 10

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
This is Ronnie Barker at his best., 6 November 1999
Author: Maurice Haddon (wogi@clear.net.nz) from Auckland New Zealand

"Open all hours" is as close to real life in the north of England as it can get. Tight fisted penny pinching corner shop keepers.The acting was based on a simple formula and perhaps a low budget at the start, which may have been expanded as the series went on. The series was carried by the main actor but eventually the others became as important as Barker and Jason. Every story proved totally enjoyable.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Timeless comedy, 2 July 2008
10/10
Author: naseby (naseby@lycos.co.uk) from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The old English little shop on the corner, serving a little community, focuses on tight-fisted Arkwright (Barker) and his put-upon nephew, Granville (Jason). Arkwright also has a stutter, but this has always seemed to work with the funny scripts nonetheless. ("Good morning my ber-ber-belov-ed!"). A lot of characters (customers) obviously are at at his mercy, prising them of money for things they didn't come in for anyway. Buxom Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Barron) is his engaged 'p-person' and always the butt of his sex-related remarks, but reminds him that he'll have to extend his spending power to finally land her. 'G-G-Granville' is always under his thumb, wanting to better himself, enjoy life with the ladies and his belated adolescence but thwarted one way or the other by the miserly grocer ("I've a good mind to take this suitcase back for a refund - trouble is, they were bombed out during the war!"). Another facet is the 'spring clip' on the till, which, of course, isn't repaired by the meanie, but free to take the duo's fingers off! A lot of regular characters - Mrs fer-fer-Featherstone (sorry, can't resist saying it as he does!) Mrs Ber-Ber Bluett and various other customers all add to the sitcom's popularity. With Gladys, the comedy preserves the British postcard humour that typified the '70's - '80's but there were plenty of other good lines nonetheless. On seeing a youngster smoking: "You shouldn't be smoking at your age - not if you're not buying them from me you shouldn't!"

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Ronnie Barker and Roy Clarke are comedy geniuses, 17 October 2006
10/10
Author: Victor Meldrew from Manchester

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Roy Clarke loves writing Northern shows. This is quite similar to Last of the Summer Wine that he wrote, with Northern gossip, e.g. him at number 35 'as had a row with his wife. Ronnie Barker is a genius too. When Roy Clarke wrote the script for Open All Hours, he didn't put the stuttering in, Barker made that up himself. How remembered would "Open All Hours" be if Barker didn't stutter.

This hilarious corner shop comedy is owned by Albert Arkwright (Barker) who has a stutter. Also working in the shop is his nephew Granville (David Jason), who's mother has died and has no idea who his father is, apparently he's Hungarian. Across the road lives Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Barron), who Arkwright fancies.Granville is frustrated by having to work long hours at the shop, not being able to go out and hates wearing a shop pinny.

Open All Hours is a true TV Classic. Barker's death was a sad loss to the comedy world.

Best Episode: The Ginger Men, Series 3, episode 3: One of the greatest TV episodes ever

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
British comedy at its very best, 24 January 2006
Author: Chris Gaskin from Derby, England

Open All Hours has to be one of the best comedies ever made, along with Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers and Only Fools And horses.

This one is about a Northen shopkeeper, Arkwright and his nephew who works for him, Granville. His lover, Nurse Gladys Emmanual lives across the road. We get to see a variety of customers coming into the shop and also Granville's love for the milk woman. This series was filmed in Doncaster.

The brilliant cast includes the late, great Ronnie Barker as Arkwright, David Jason (Only Fools And Horses) as Granville and Linda Baron as Nurse Gladys. Others appearing as customers over the years include Kathy Staff (Last Of the Summer Winw) and Stephanie Cole (Waiting For God).

Open All hours is certainly a comedy classic and the BBC still regularly repeat episodes and is much better than any comedy made today. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

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