Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Brigit Forsyth, Johnny Vegas, Sally Lindsay, Tim Healy, Kulvinder Ghir, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sue Holderness, Katie Redford, Sophie Willan, Dean Smith, Archie Panjabi, Clive Mantle.
There is a place for consistency in this world, that not everything requires the phantasm of excess to thrill and delight an audience, that it is worth remembering that the so called gentle comedy can be just as subversive as the supposed anarchic; and across time it is to actors such as David Jason that provides the link between the two.
There is no doubt that David Jason remains one of Britain’s much loved character actors, after all he learned from one of the finest in Ronnie Barker, and whether in programmes such as Only Fools and Horses, Skullion in Porterhouse Blue or Blanco Webb in Porridge, it is arguably the character of Granville in Still Open All Hours, and its predecessor Open All Hours, that brings the idea of the television anarchism he learned whilst performing with the likes of Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin and the sophistication and subtly of the craft installed into by Mr. Barker together in a series that even after six series shows no sign of tiredness or willing futility.
It is a testament to the cast and the creative imagination of Roy Clarke that the programme continues to leave audiences craving for more, the anarchy comes from the ordinary, the gift of David Jason’s portrayal, coupled with that of James Baxter as his son Leroy and the array of customers that frequent or do their best to avoid the shop, it is one that is both gentle and the rebellion interact to the utter joy of the viewer.
With the sixth series’ Christmas special adding a further textured layer of expression, of the rebellion that never became apparent in the original series, that of a love life fulfilled, Still Open All Hours retains that special bond with its audience, that of continued growth and incredibly observed characters. Still open for business, David Jason and Granville are engrained into television history.
Ian D. Hall