| Product: |
Open All Hours |
| Date: |
21/07/08 (89 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Comedy
Disadvantages: Not lasted the test of time.
Open all Hours.
Open All Hours first appeared as a pilot on BBC2 in 1976, but it was not to reappear until 5 years later on BBC1!
With Ronnie Barker and David Jason in this comedy duo, only bad writing could possible ruin the show.
However with Roy Clarke doing the writing this Sitcom was destined to be a favourite with the viewers.
Personally it was never in the same league as 'Rising Damp' or 'Porridge'.
It was written in a 'Last of the Summer Wine style'. Understandable really as Clarke wrote this as well.
The humour was slow and steady, in fact if it wasn't for the great acting of Barker and Jason the show might have died a death.
Synopsis;
~~~~~~
Ronnie Barker played Arkwright, a miserly tight fisted Northern grocer who ran a corner shop.
It sold almost everything a modern supermarket would sell but from within the space of an end terraced house.
Arkwright had the world's most aggressive till which terrified the life out of G... G.. Granville. He also had an awful stutter which eventually wore a little thin as a means of evoking laughter.
Arkwright was always trying to bed his very own district nurse, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel.
It was one of the plots that would surface regularly and as usual Arkwright would end up thwarted.
Granville was Arkwright's nephew, a dozy half Hungarian young man, always fantasizing about love, life and women. Mainly the milk woman who delivered every morning.
He was Arkwright's errand boy, skiv and general gofer.
Customers where few and far between! And when the odd one or two entered the shop Arkwright would try to sell them as much as he could. From broken biscuits to flood damaged toilet rolls!
Each episode would start and finish with Arkwright working early in the morning to put out his wares and ended with him putting pretty much most of it back into the shop whilst reminiscing on the days on goings.
Sadly the writing was just not sharp enough to have the series classed as a 'Classic'.
There just where not enough other strong characters for the dialogue and jokes to pass between.
It was a slow moving inoffensive comedy that will be repeated intermittently.
Not one of my favourite comedies but watchable.
Greg.
Summary: It's ok, just
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