UK Timeline Still Open All Hours series confirmed

denphone · 31-01-2014, 06:33

Open All Hours series confirmed.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-...ries-confirmed

What are your thoughts on this as the one off this Christmas l thought was quite good.

Stephen · 31-01-2014, 08:46

I did enjoy the Still open all hours Christmas special but it just wasn't as good as the original series.

So I hope they step up the game for the new series.

Thread title updated to the full show title.

denphone · 31-01-2014, 09:00

Yes l quite agree in that the original series with Ronnie Barker in was exceptional but the one off at Christmas was still far superior to much of what comes out nowadays l would say.

Stuart · 31-01-2014, 11:05

The problem that they have is that Ronnie Barker was arguably one of the top comedians this country has ever produced. He was also arguably one of the best comic actors (if not the best). While David Jason is also an excellent actor (both serious and comic), Ronnie Barker was always going to be a hard act to follow.

Having said that, I enjoyed Still Open All Hours. OK, it wasn't a razor sharp up to the minute satire on modern society (like a lot of comedies, such as outnumbered), but neither was Open All Hours. I don't think either series was intended to be anything more than a comedy where the audience can sit down, enjoy a few jokes and not have to think about it too much.

Stephen · 31-01-2014, 16:37

The only decent thing about Still open all hours is that it was written by the shows creators so they were able to keep the humor and style of the sitcom the same.

Mick Fisher · 31-01-2014, 18:30

I thought it was awful to the point that I felt embarrassed that such a fine comedy actor such as David Jason would waste his time on such utter tosh.

Nevertheless it was on a par with that last ridiculous secret service spy spoof thing that he wasted his time performing in.

I guess he might need the money, if not he should consider getting a new Agent.

Personally I think he should quit while he is ahead.

Probably too late now though

Stephen · 31-01-2014, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I thought it was awful to the point that I felt embarrassed that such a fine comedy actor such as David Jason would waste his time on such utter tosh.

Nevertheless it was on a par with that last ridiculous secret service spy spoof thing that he wasted his time performing in.

I guess he might need the money, if not he should consider getting a new Agent.

Personally I think he should quit while he is ahead.

Probably too late now though

Well he returned to it as it was a part he played in the origina series with Ronnie Barker and it was the show creators that wrote the special.

Now some may say writing it in the style of the original was a mistake as humour and comedy have moved on, but nostalgia is a curious thing. Look at the revived Birds of a Feather has been doing really well so far and keeps the comedy and scripting exactly the way it was. Works for some shows and not others it appears.

Mick Fisher · 01-02-2014, 17:56

Well Birds Of A Feather has the luxury of being able to use the same cast. The scripts are good and to me it seems as though they have never been away in spite of the inevitable ageing.

With Still Open All Hours, regrettably the Star of the original show has passed away. David Jason, for all his comic genius, has failed, lamentably, to step into Ronnie Barkers footprints. I would imagine the same would happen to anyone who tried to do the same with David's Delboy character.

I particularly didn't like David Jason's attempt to emulate Arkwright with the silly stuttering and even the tired old dysfunctional till joke.

I never like the original series anyway, I found it depressing for some reason and always groaned inwardly when it came on.