10 Reasons Why Open All Hours Is Fantastically Funny

8. Easy Listening

A hallmark of Clarke's scripts is gentleness. Open All Hours makes for light, attractive and undemanding viewing. This simplicity and easy warmth is a big reason for its popular appeal and success €“ and we daresay that is why it has been revived.

The pace of the programme reflects that of the lives of its characters. Business at Arkwright's is steady with customers coming in fits and starts. Mundane questions like "did Mrs Gillespie come in for her bread?" are interspersed with witty wordplay from Barker as he reacts to what others say. Granville meanwhile takes his time on deliveries around Doncaster on his clapped out bicycle. "Why can't we get a van?" he often bemoans whilst always retaining a dreamy quality and adolescent humour. In the second episode a customer promises to give Granville a kiss only for Arkwright to shove a frozen chicken against his lips as he puckers up. What could be funnier than a young man smooching poultry? Open All Hours proves a sometimes forgotten point that you don't have to write satirical or complex material to get laughs. Keeping things straightforward and using props (which we will come onto) can be just as effective as a source of comedy.