Open All Hours on at Christmas - anyone excited to see this?

[BananaNotPeelingWell]

Of course there'll be a big Arkwright shaped hole in it but from what I've seen quite a few originals will be there. I'm intrigued to see how it's going to be done.

[Ellisisland]

Yeah me too. I remember watching the originals with my mum and dad and absolutely refusing to believe that Arkwright and fletcher from Porridge were played by the same guy !

[BananaNotPeelingWell]

It was hard to believe! I still find it hard now! Ronnie Barker was brilliant.

[Pixel]

Loved Open all Hours. They were showing re-runs recently and it was still just as funny as always, so I'm looking forward to the Christmas special but also praying it isn't awful, though I don't suppose it will be (despite Ronnie Barker's absence) as the original cast are all still around and were all fab characters.
As an aside I had a saturday job in a small shop when I was a teenager and everyone used to call the boss Arkwright as he was famously mean and would walk up and down the shop rubbing his hands (when it was icy and all the shops on the parade were salting the pavements outside to make them safe he went out with one tiny packet of table salt ).

[Makingchanges]

they have been filming it this week. apparently the shop is a hairdressers but still looks the same. (according to the local news)

[scampadoodle]

I went to a studio recording of one of the original episodes when I was a teenager, 30-odd years ago Ronnie Barker did the warm-up: he was brilliant.

[Ellisisland]

Just had a quick google and there were 26 episodes in total of open all hours and 21 of Porridge. Seems hard to believe considering how popular they were and especially when you think a show like Friends for example has 20 or so episodes per series and was on for ten years!

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I didn't go up but it is being filmed in my town so have seen loads of photos being passed around of filming. Will definitely be watching!

[Ellisisland]

Also just realised that David Jason was in Porridge as well. Mind blown !

[BananaNotPeelingWell]

I think the Arkwright shaped hole was too big to fill after all. It fell strangely flat. How did that happen? It even had Johnny Vegas in it It was just a series of references to the original. Oh well..

[Pixel]

I did feel that they'd just tried to turn Granville into Arkwright, he'd taken on so many of his mannerisms. There didn't seem to be much of the old Granville left.

[Blondeshavemorefun]

On planner. Have watched yet or read comments on here

Will report back later :)

[insomniarules]

Anyone watched it yet?
I thought it was good but like a series of sketches rather than a story but then it had to be in only half an hour and no series coming.
I absolutely loved Delphine.
ARe there any shops like that any more? He still had the same till and the same kitchen. How?

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Just watched

I didn't like

Thought very poor and hate canned laughter :(

Best left alone :(

Loved the old version

[Louise1956]

I found it rather sad. I always hoped Granville would escape from the shop eventually, never could understand why he stayed, the idea that he would still be there 27 years on seemed rather melancholy to me.