Picture from BBC
Sir David Jason is without a doubt one of our best comedy actors who deserved his knighthood for his contribution to British entertainment. Since appearing on television in the 1960s he hasn't put a foot wrong and is one of the few comedy actors to have a clean record as far as quality is concerned and had he died in 2013 he would have left behind a sparkling legacy of such rich characters as Granville, Inspector Jack Frost, Edgar Briggs, Blanco Webb, Pop Larkin and of course Del Boy. His friends, fans and colleagues would have eulogised a flawless man who brought laughter and joy to millions. Sadly, if David Jason dies now, the last thing he leaves behind on television is Still Open All Hours.
I can only assume that he hasn't taken care of his financial situation in his later years and has found himself in need of a quick fix payday, otherwise why else would be sell his integrity and reputation down the river in such a crass fashion? David Jason is not only taking his own reputation down but by pissing on his grave he is taking Ronnie Barker down with him. In the original series Granville was always wanting to escape the drudgery of his life dedicated to his uncle's shop but was stifled by Arkwright. Steptoe and Son worked along a similar trope but was a much darker story of the claustrophobia of Harold's situation, helped along by the apparent real-life hatred between Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett, and we never found out the eventual outcome. It would have helped if there had been a story that revealed what happened in the interim between the last episode of Open All Hours and the first episode Still Open All Hours because I couldn't help but think that Granville would have sold the shop to Londis or Spar before Arkwright's body was cold. It was pointed out to me on Facebook that the whole conceit of the rebooted series was that Granville became his late uncle without even realising it. As much as he hated the shop, by the time he was left in charge he had wasted too much of his life to start again, and was left to rot in the shop that had begun destroying his soul when he was a child where he was cursed to spend the autumn years of his life locked in a prison of his own making, he didn't even replace that crap till.
Whatever the reason for Granville deciding to stay in the life he hated and not bothering to break out and see the world, the writers could have done a much better job with this situation. Rather than move on, the sitcom is stuck in the past with the aforementioned till that slams shut for comic effect (you would imagine that Granville might have grown used to it by now) and the cast of characters from the original series. It is a little bit creepy that Mrs Featherstone is now lusting after Granville and Granville leers over Nurse Gladys. Granville now has a son, who is as downtrodden and overworked as he once was, even though if Granville had any heart he would remember the life he was subjected to and might have encouraged Leroy to get the hell out at the first chance.
Interestingly, this show is written by Roy Clarke who not only wrote the original series but is also responsible for Last of the Summer Wine. Now that Last of the Summer Wine is no longer being made, I have a feeling that the BBC and Clarke are in cahoots to provide the final job for veteran comedy actors and I don't doubt that sooner or later the viewers will have to endure at least one scene involving a character rolling down a hill in a bathtub on wheels.
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The first edition of The Random Sessions Podcast is available here.
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