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Another of Roy
Clarke's brilliant northern small town creations, Open All Hours had grown out of Ronnie Barker's earlier anthology series Seven of One (which also saw the first appearance of Fletch from Porridge) and
plot wise the format stays the same for pretty much every episode,
Arkwright opens his shop at the crack of dawn (and closes it only once night has fallen) and spends his days devising new ways to take the money out of the wallets of his customers, lusting after his neighbour the buxom Nurse Gladys Emmanuel and annoying his errand boy Granville who just happens to be his nephew.
David Jason co-stars as Granville and by the time this fourth season appeared in 1985 was a huge star thanks to his role as Delboy in Only Fools and Horses but is happy to play second fiddle here to the genius of Barker (the pair had had a strong working relationship going back to the late sixties). Nothing much ever seems to happen in Open All Hours but the show is always so hilarious that you never even notice.
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