Still Open All Hours

Still Open All Hours
Genre Comedy
Created by Roy Clarke
Written by Roy Clarke
Directed by Dewi Humphreys
Starring
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) Gareth Edwards
Location(s) MediaCityUK (2013)
Teddington Studios (2014)
Pinewood Studios (2015)
Running time 30 minutes
Release
Original network BBC One
Picture format 16:9 (1080i HDTV)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release 26 December 2013 (2013-12-26) – present
Chronology
Preceded by Open All Hours
Related shows Seven of One
External links
Still Open All Hours at BBC Comedy

Still Open All Hours is a BBC television sitcom sequel to the series Open All Hours, written by original series writer Roy Clarke and featuring several of the permanent cast members of the original series, including David Jason, Lynda Baron, Stephanie Cole and Maggie Ollerenshaw. Open All Hours ran for 26 episodes in four series from 1973 to 1985, created and written by Roy Clarke. The BBC announced on 7 October 2013,[1] that the show would air for a 40th Anniversary Special in December 2013. The 40th Anniversary special aired on 26 December at 7:45pm on BBC One.

On 30 January 2014, the BBC commissioned Still Open All Hours for six new episodes beginning on 26 December 2014.[2] The show later returned for a second series, beginning on 26 December 2015.[3] In January 2016, David Jason revealed that a third series will be produced in 2016.[4]

Series development and production

Still Open All Hours was broadcast on 26 December 2013, with Jason reprising his role of Granville from Open All Hours. The new one-off episode written by Clarke showed Granville now running the shop with his son Leroy (played by James Baxter),[5] after inheriting it from Arkwright.[6] Clarke wrote the script in two weeks, and production began in October 2013. The exterior scenes were filmed at the original location at Lister Avenue in Doncaster from 18 to 20 November 2013. The interior scenes were recorded on 3 December 2013 at MediaCityUK in Salford in front of a studio audience. A 30-minute documentary accompanying the show's return, entitled Open All Hours: A Celebration, aired on 27 December 2013, the day after the new episode was broadcast, on BBC One.[7][8][9]

On 30 January 2014 the BBC commissioned a full six-part-series of Still Open All Hours to be transmitted later in the year.[10] The controller of BBC comedy commissioning, Shane Allen, 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."[11]

Production for series one started in August 2014, exterior filming started on 15 September and location recording was completed on 26 September 2014.[12][13] Interior scenes were recorded in front of a studio audience from 10 October until 21 November 2014 at Shepperton Studios in Studio 1.[14]

Production for the second series started in September 2015. Exterior scenes were filmed on location from 14[15]-24 September 2015.[16] Interior scenes were recorded in front of a studio audience at Pinewood Studios from 9 October until 20 November 2015.[17]

Filming locations

The exterior shots reused the original shop from the series, on Lister Avenue in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster. The shop has been a hair salon since 1962, so it had to be extensively redressed to resemble a traditional corner shop. This process took two days, before filming on location for three consecutive days.[18]

For the 2013 special, the studio shots were recorded at Dock10 studios at MediaCityUK, Salford Quays. For the first series, Teddington Studios were used and the second series was recorded at Pinewood Studios.

Characters

Character Actor Years Series Episode count
Granville David Jason 2013– 1.1– 13
Nurse Gladys Emmanuel Lynda Baron 2013– 1.1– 13
Leroy James Baxter 2013– 1.1– 13
Mrs Delphine Featherstone Stephanie Cole 2013– 1.1– 13
Mavis Maggie Ollerenshaw 2013– 1.1– 13
Wet Eric Agnew Johnny Vegas 2013– 1.1– 12
Madge Brigit Forsyth 2013– 1.1– 13
Gastric Tim Healy 2014– 1.2– 12
Cyril Kulvinder Ghir 2013– 1.1– 12
Cindy Misha Timmins 2013– 1.1– 6
Mrs Kath Agnew Sally Lindsay 2013– 1.1– 7
Mrs Hussein Nina Wadia 2013– 1.1– 9
Mr Newbold Geoffrey Whitehead 2015– 2.2– 3
Mr Marshall Barry Elliott 2013–15 1.1–1.3 3

     – Main character in Series 2. Christmas Special (2013) is considered as Episode 1.1.

Guest cast

Still Open All Hours has used several actors from various past hit sitcoms as customers and one-off characters.

Episodes

Thirteen episodes of Still Open All Hours, all written by Roy Clarke, have been produced for the BBC. The show began airing on 26 December 2013 with an anniversary special of original series, Open All Hours. All episodes have a running time of 30 minutes.

Broadcast and reception

The special was broadcast on BBC One on Boxing Day 2013 and received 9.43m (39.9% of the audience) viewers according to overnight figures and was the most watched programme on that day.[19] Final viewing figures showed that it was watched by 12.23m and was the most watched programme for that week.[20] It received poor reviews from critics. Will Dean of The Independent called it a "w-w-worthy [sic] effort" but criticised the attempt to revive the show without the late Ronnie Barker.[21] Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph said it "felt like a relic of another era" criticising the jokes and Jason's performance.[22] Jacob Mason, writing on the Radio Times website, described the show as "warmly nostalgic", whilst others noted it as "a fitting tribute to Ronnie Barker".[23] On 21 November 2014, the BBC confirmed that Still Open All Hours would return for a full series in 2014. This began airing on 26 December 2014 and finished on 25 January 2015. Series 2 began on the 26th December 2015 with a run of 6 episodes.

DVD releases

Although filmed and broadcast in High-definition, no Blu-ray releases have been announced to date. Series One and the 2013 Christmas Special was released on Region 2 DVD on 2 February 2015 by 2 entertain. [24] Series 2 was due released in 2016.

DVD Title No. of Discs Special features No. of Episodes Release Dates
Region 2 Region 4
Series 1 1 2013 Christmas Special 7 2 February 2015 24 June 2015
Series 2 1 2015 Christmas Special 6 1 February 2016 TBA

References

  1. ↑ Goodacre, Kate (7 October 2013). "Sir David Jason to star in 'Open All Hours' Christmas special". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Still Open All Hours commissioned for full series". BBC News. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Chuckle Brothers: To me, to you... to Swansea!". South Wales Evening Post. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "David Jason confirms Still Open All Hours will return and reveals his Hollywood dream". The Mirror. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Look who's the b-b-boss now: Granville pulls on Arkwright's famous brown coat as David Jason returns in Open All Hours after 30 years". Daily Mail. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Sir David Jason back for Open All Hours Christmas show". BBC News. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "Open All Hours: A Celebration". BBC. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Open All Hours special could lead to new series". Doncaster Free Press. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "BREAKING: New version of Open All Hours will be filmed in Doncaster". Doncaster Free Press. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Glanfield, Tim (30 January 2014). "Still Open All Hours series confirmed". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Plunkett, John (30 January 2014). "BBC commissions full series of Still Open All Hours". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Video: Open All Hours filming starts in Doncaster". Doncaster Free Press. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Open All Hours filming set to end in Doncaster". Sheffield Star. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Still Open All Hours Series 1". The Pinewood Studios Group. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Sir David Jason, 75, steps out as comedy character Granville as he films new series of BBC's Still Open All Hours in Doncaster". The Daily Mail. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tim Healy gets into a spot of bother while dressed as Santa as he joins Sir David Jason on the set of the Still Open All Hours Christmas special". The Daily Mail. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Burke Darren (30 September 2015). "Still Open All Hours to be filmed at world famous Pinewood Studios". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  18. ↑ Wilkes, David (19 November 2013). "The real life shops behind Open All Hours: How a hairdressers and a c-c-convenience store helped inspire the BBC sitcom that is about to be resurrected for Christmas special". Mail Online. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  19. ↑ Rigby, Sam (27 December 2013). "Still Open All Hours tops Boxing Day ratings with 9.4m". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  20. ↑ "Top 30s". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  21. ↑ Dean, Will (26 December 2013). "Still Open All Hours review: It was a w-w-worthy effort – but there’s only one Arkwright". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  22. ↑ Lawrence, Ben (26 December 2013). "Still Open All Hours, BBC One, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  23. ↑ Andrews, Marc (26 December 2013). "TV viewers hail the one-off return of classic sitcom Open All Hours as 'warmly nostalgic' and 'a fitting tribute to Ronnie Barker'". Daily Mail. Retrieved 4 January 2014. Jojo Martin praised the show saying " I loved Open All Hours and I love Still Open All Hours even more, Still Open is the one of the best comedy series on our screens".
  24. ↑ "Still Open All Hours Series One + 2013 Christmas Special [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

External links

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