Trivia / Open All Hours

• Actor-Inspired Element: Nowhere in the script did it say anything about Arkwright having a stutter. That was all Ronnie Barker. He also co-created the premise of the dangerous till.
  • Apparently, Barker was also somewhat of a miser at times, which made Arkwright's stinginess funnier and more realistic.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Arkwright doesn't really say "It's been a funny old day" all that often, despite it practically being his Signing Off Catchphrase according to popular culture. In fact, the only time he actually says it is in "Well-Catered Funeral", and that's before he steps out of the shop at the end of the night. Granville also says it at the end of the Still Open All Hours pilot and the 2019 Christmas special.
• The Character Died with Him: In Still Open All Hours, there's a portrait of Arkwright in the back of the shop, and the character's influence is keenly felt, but sadly, he died with Ronnie Barker.
• Dawson Casting: The character of Granville (obviously meant as an inexperienced twenty-something in a low-status "school leaver" job for his uncle) is played by David Jason, who was in his mid-thirties to mid-forties during the series' run.
  • Or at least initially. He's 24 in the pilot in 1973, but in series 2 (made in 1981), it is specified he was born in the late forties, suggesting he is in his early thirties. The joke thus becomes that he is still being treated as a child by his uncle and surrogate parent.
• Friendship on the Set: Ronnie Barker and David Jason became close friends while making the series. Barker described making the show as one of the happiest times of his life and Jason considered Barker a mentor.
• Inspiration for the Work: The shop is based on a little store called L E Riddiford in Thornbury, Gloucestershire. Roy Clarke visited this small town whilst travelling and was said to have fallen in love with the shop layout and its owner, Len Riddiford. This shop is referenced in numerous episodes by Arkwright.
• Post-Script Season: Ronnie Barker wanted to end the series after season three, despite its huge popularity.
• Role Reprise: In addition to Granville, Still Open All Hours sees the return of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, Granville's love interest Mavis, and Mrs Featherstone, all played by the original actresses.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In 1984, at which time no new episodes of the series had been produced for two years, a spin-off was proposed based around Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. Given the working title Call the Nurse, this Spin-Off series would have followed Nurse Gladys as she visited various eccentric and demanding patients. Arkwright and Granville were not written to appear, and Roy Clarke was keen to develop a new set of supporting characters rather than rely on those already built-up. A thirty-minute pilot was written but did not enter production as The BBC turned down the series; instead, the main series returned for its fourth and what would be the final series the following year.
  • There were no plans to end Still Open All Hours, but the COVID-19 Pandemic and the UK's subsequent lockdowns and social-distancing rules made it impossible to film new episodes so the show was cancelled.

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