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Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD]
 
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Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD]

DVD ~ Ronnie Barker
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD] + Open All Hours - Series Two [1981] [DVD] + Open All Hours - Series Three [1982] [DVD] [1976]
Total RRP: £38.97
Price For All Three: £17.94

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD]
93% buy the item featured on this page:
Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD] 4.8 out of 5 stars (9)
£5.98
Porridge - Series One [1974] [DVD]
2% buy
Porridge - Series One [1974] [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (10)
£5.98
Open All Hours - Series Three [1982] [DVD] [1976]
2% buy
Open All Hours - Series Three [1982] [DVD] [1976] 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
£5.98
Open All Hours - Series Four [1985] [DVD]
2% buy
Open All Hours - Series Four [1985] [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£5.98
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Product details

  • Actors: Ronnie Barker, David Jason, Lynda Baron
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 30 Sep 2002
  • Run Time: 210 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00006G9VP
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4,738 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Already old-fashioned when the show was made, Open All Hours now seems like a glimpse into a much earlier world. Ronnie Barker stars as Arkwright, a tight-fisted middle-aged Doncaster shopkeeper, while David Jason as Arkwright's nephew Granville makes deliveries by bicycle in a manner more evocative of the 1930s than the 70s. Barker's relationship with Jason parallels his rapport with Richard Beckinsale in Porridge (1974-8), and while the pair may not be in prison, the confines of the small general dealer's shop often seem like that to Granville. Even though at 36 Jason was patently way too old for the supposedly teenage Granville, he and Barker made a great double act.

The dry Northern humour centres mostly on money and sex, the latter interest in Arkwright's case being the buxom charms of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, very well played by Lynda Baron. Like writer Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine, the episodes are more amusing character sketches than stories, with the 1973 pilot and first regular episode "Full of Mysterious Promise" serving simply to introduce the players. In "A Mattress on Wheels", Arkwright is tempted to buy a van, and in "A Nice Cosy Little Disease" decides a fake illness will prompt Gladys Emmanuel to provide more than NHS standard TLC. "Beware of the Dog" is Arkwright's response to an attempted burglary, while when his best friend dies he plans a "Well Catered Funeral". Finally, in "Apples and Self Service", paranoia defeats Arkwright's attempts to move with the times.

On the DVD: Open All Hours has a 4:3 picture that is exceptional for a 1970s sitcom, while the mono sound is excellent. Extras are a reasonably detailed text biography of series writer Roy Clarke, and, much more notably, a complete bonus episode, the 1973 series pilot. The picture quality of this is not up to that of the series proper, but it is perfectly fine for vintage BBC TV. --Gary S Dalkin

Special Features
English
Region 2


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Open All Hours - Series Three [1982] [DVD] [1976]

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cracking Comedy!, 12 Dec 2003
"Open All Hours" is a sometimes overlooked Ronnie Barker / David Jason masterclass in well written and wonderfully observed comedy. Similar in some ways to Porridge, with the two main characters tucked away in the shop, but good enough to stand on it's own two feet as a genuine British classic.

Set in a small corner shop in Doncaster (the exterior shots were actually of a hairdressers salon, expertly disguised, with the exterior filming being mainly done during the owners summer holidays!) and scripted by Roy Clark, the series is a hark back to a time that had practically passed when it debuted. This is part of the charm though.

Barker plays the tight-fisted but loveable Arkwright, owner of all he surveys from behind his grocers counter. He constantly pursues the affections of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel who lives opposite his shop, but with little success!

David Jason plays Granville, the down trodden shop boy. Although Barker is clearly the star, Jason often steals the scene with wonderfully scripted one-liners.

The extras include the original pilot (complete with a totally different Nurse Gladys!) which is worth the price alone. the quality is good too, considering that the pilot episode is now 30 years old.

I would recommend this comedy to anyone - great comedy doesn't age and the humour is real and warm. Ronnie Barker is a national treasure and every comdey fan should won at least one of his DVDs.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent comedy., 29 Oct 2002
By Carlos Grosso (Argentina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I rate this item with only four stars cause my top comedies are ¨Fawlty Towers¨ and ¨Only fools and horses¨ .What can i say about this nice comedy? You will laugh a lot with David Jason and Ronnie Barker characters,the script is intelligent and both actors talk with their gestures and faces.
Having born and brought up in Argentina i feel something special for this comedy cause it reminds me during my childhood about the funny situations and anecdotes in a grocery round the corner so sometimes when i watch the comedy i feel as if it all happened here and not in England.
Thank God the dvd contains English subtitles cause the accents sometimes are hard to understand for a foreign person.
B-B-Buy it,you-y-you will enjoyyy it!!!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars G-G-Great C-Comedy!, 23 Nov 2003
I first seen this series on UK Gold a couple of years ago and it really made me laugh. It is set in a corner shop with a stuttering selfish old man named Albert Arkright and his nephew Granville. Arkright is engaged to Nurse Gladys Emmanuelle, who lives across the road. Arkright is always trying to save money and rarely spends a penny. Granville delivers goods to peoples houses on the luxury shop bike and is not very happy with his life.

The DVD transfer is very good. Not a great deal of extras but I wouldn't suppose there's much that could've been done in the way of extras. Anyway, there's the pilot episode which introduces the series and is quite good. There's also a biography of Roy Clarke, the creator of Open All Hours.

You should get this DVD. If you like Porridge and Only Fools and Horses, you'll love this. G-Granville, F-Fetch a cloth!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A slab of nostalgia.
It is truly astounding how things have changed since 1976. Watching this really does show how much too, although - as was pointed out to me - things in the south of England were... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. C. Scognamiglio

5.0 out of 5 stars C-C-C-Classic Comedy
This is a wonderful comedy series. Well written and superbly acted. I remember watching it as a child and it's as funny now as it was then. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Vicky Welsby

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb comedy for all generations
Some of the new comedy writers should watch this and learn. It deals with Sex, Drugs, Alcohol and human emotions - without a single swear word and whilst bringing the viewers to... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Gooner

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Great show.
This is a great show alot of FUN! When are they going to bring it back on DVD in North Amarica or at least make it? (regin 0). Read more
Published on 26 Jul 2005 by Catherine S. Bates

5.0 out of 5 stars Ronnie Barker at his at his best
This might not be the best ever British sitcom. Only Fools and Horses and Blackadder are better. But this comedy contains the best ever interpretation of a sitcom character in... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2005 by Censuwine

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Show
I watched this show back in the late 1980’s on my local PBS station. I really like the characters. I am glad it has finally came out on DVD. Read more
Published on 21 April 2003 by Robert E. Bleier

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