David Jason

David Jason calls for campagin to bring back Only Fools

Sir David Jason, the star of Only Fools and Horses, says if enough people tweet their support another series might be commissioned.

There's a hairdresser's shop in Balby, Doncaster, which hasn't had this much attention in 28 years. After the BBC's set dressers have done their thing, it becomes Arkwright's grocers, now the domain of Granville and his brown coat.

This documentary explores the appeal of the original Open All Hours - complete, of course, with the curmudgeonly shopkeeper of yore -and the process of making yesterday's Christmas revival without him. Interviews with David Jason, Lynda Baron and writer Roy Clarke hint at the mood on set, which must be bittersweet without Barker. Judging by the window displays, however, things have moved on for the small shopkeeper.

Still Open All Hours review

Still Open All Hours wasn't quite the car crash I anticipated but neither was it the triumphant return to form that I think Roy Clarke and David Jason imagined it to be.

There are very few British sitcoms more beloved than Open All Hours, a slice of comic northern life as comforting as warm Yorkshire parkin.

Of course Ronnie Barker, who added grumpy, low-level-swindling shopkeeper Albert Arkwright to his portmanteau of great comedy characters, is no longer with us. But David Jason, his put-upon nephew and protégé Granville, has become an all-conquering TV star in the years since Open All Hours ended in 1985 and he returns to that little corner shop as its new owner.

He's helped by his son Leroy (Emmerdale's James Baxter), the result of a one-night stand 25 years ago - a handsome, ambitious lad who fights off female attention very much as Granville used to back in the old days.

This special episode, written by Open All Hours creator Roy Clarke, takes us back to the shop for a day, and reintroduces us to some familiar faces.

David Jason - back to the shop floor

"Classic comedy is classic comedy and it will go on for years," says David Jason, with all the confidence of Del Boy giving it the big one.

Anyone remember the Christmas 2007 revival of much-loved landed gentry sitcom To the Manor Born? Or have you done your best to expunge it from your memory, viewing it as an object lesson in the dangers of going back?

We weren't allowed to see any previews of this return to the Doncaster corner shop once haunted by Ronnie Barker's Albert Arkwright and his bumbling nephew Granville - which in itself, may not be a good sign. So here's what we've managed to piece together. Arkwright is no longer with us - the shop is now run by Granville (David Jason) and his rather too handsome son Leroy (James Baxter). Granville's still on the look out for some hot loving; tonight, he'll be attempting to arrange a date with old flame Mavis without her scary sister Madge finding out. Oh, and there's rather a lot of anchovy paste to be shifted. No doubt we can expect hilarious consequences.

There's apparently the prospect of a new series next year; we can't help but wince slightly at the prospect. G-g-g-give up while the g-g-g-going's g-g-g-good, G-G-G-Granville.

David Jason: Back to the shop floor

Still Open All Hours comes at a time when TV comedy is hungry for a little nostalgia, just as TV in general is finally paying heed to an older audience.

David Jason among winners at National Book Awards

Only Fools and Horses star David Jason and schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai have both won prizes at the Specsavers National Book Awards.