Television series

Open All Hours

Name: Open All Hours
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1976
Cast: Ronnie Barker, David Jason, Lynda Baron

Ronnie Barker's stammering, penny-pinching shopkeeper Arkwright bullies his long-suffering nephew Granville through till roll and life lessons in this gentle, character-first sitcom from Roy Clarke. Nothing much happens, on purpose — the pleasure is in rhythm, repetition and two brilliant comic actors circling each other in a tiny set. Cosy, warm, unhurried; for viewers who like their comedy slow-cooked rather than sharp.

TVMaze rating

7.7

If you liked this

Only Fools and Horses....1981

David Jason again, this time chasing schemes instead of serving customers, with the same mix of family bickering, hopeless romance and a London that no longer quite exists. Warmer and bigger in scope than Open All Hours.

But Later series lean sentimental and the studio-audience laughter can feel dated if you're not already fond of it.

Porridge1974

Ronnie Barker's other masterpiece, tighter and sharper than Arkwright, playing a prison lifer running rings around the system with weary, dignified wit. Same comic engine, different cage.

But Prison setting means a harder edge and less cosiness — don't expect the shop's gentle sweetness.

Last of the Summer Wine1973

Written by the same Roy Clarke, same unhurried Yorkshire pace, but swapping the shop counter for three old men wandering the Dales doing nothing much at all. Pure comfort viewing.

But Even slower than Open All Hours, with barely any plot at all — a taste test for patience.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Shop Around the Corner1940

Same premise decades earlier and an ocean away: a small shop, a prickly boss-employee dynamic, and a romance stalling in real time under the counter — Arkwright and Granville with proper Hollywood polish.

Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan spar as employer and shop clerk who despise each other in person and are secretly falling in love by letter. Impossibly warm, funny and beautifully constructed classic Hollywood.

But Black-and-white 1940s pacing and old-Hollywood sentiment will feel slow if you want modern gag rhythms.

Fawlty Towers1975

Another small British business run by a chaotic proprietor, though here the miserliness curdles into outright fury. Ferociously well-constructed farce from the same golden sitcom decade.

But Basil Fawlty's rage is a different, more frantic energy than Arkwright's gentle penny-pinching.

Dad's Army1968

A small ensemble of very British types bumbling through small stakes with enormous affection between the performers. If you like the gentle character comedy, this is the platonic ideal of it.

But Home Guard setting and wartime jokes will feel remote if you want something contemporary.

Are You Being Served?1972no page yet

Shop-floor sitcom cousin, swapping the corner store for a department store and the romantic tension for double entendres fired at machine-gun pace. Broader, campier, still very funny.

But The humour is cruder and more innuendo-heavy — a different comic register entirely.

To the Manor Born1979

Class comedy and a slow-burn will-they-won't-they romance carried by impeccable comic timing, in the same unhurried BBC house style. Gentle, warm, a little posh.

But Less laugh-a-minute than Open All Hours — it's a comedy of manners more than gags.

One Foot in the Grave1990

For the miserly-old-man energy specifically: Victor Meldrew is Arkwright's meaner, angrier descendant, furious at the modern world rather than fond of his till.

But Considerably darker and more bitter — the warmth of the shop is largely gone.

Keeping Up Appearances1990

Same cosy, gentle sitcom DNA and small-town Englishness, built around one magnificently insufferable character rather than a double act. Easy, familiar comfort telly.

But One-joke premise repeated across every episode — charming at first, thin if binged.

Hancock's Half Hour1956

This is the ancestor of the 'trapped man in one small room, going nowhere, magnificent about it' sitcom that Roy Clarke perfected two decades later — same DNA, twenty years cruder.

The show that basically invented the modern British sitcom — one frustrated, self-important man, one cramped setting, comedy from character rather than plot. You can hear Open All Hours in its bones.

But Very much of its era in production style and pace; some episodes only survive as radio recordings.

Clerks1994

Strip away the fondness and the laugh track and you get the same engine — a bored, underpaid young man stuck behind a counter dreaming of an escape that never quite comes.

A single dreary day behind a convenience store counter, shot in scrappy black and white, dead-end job comedy at its most profane and quotable. Funny in a completely different key.

But Crude, foul-mouthed, and aggressively American indie — nothing gentle or cosy about it whatsoever.