BBC One Picks Up 'Still Open All Hours' To Series With 6 Episode Order – TVWise

Granville’s comeback was not quite the one-off it was originally billed to be. After piloting the updated project with a Christmas special on Boxing Day, BBC One has picked Still Open All Hours to series with a 6 episode order. Production on the series will take place in Doncaster, with BBC One eyeing a late 2014 premiere.
Still Open All Hours follows Granville, who some years back inherited the shop from his beloved but miserly Uncle Arkwright. He now runs it with his son Leroy, a cheerful, good-looking lad with more female admirers than Granville ever had. Granville sees him as the shop assistant but he sees himself as the head of IT. Granville has brought up Leroy himself, with the help of a lot of the local women, after he arrived on the doorstep as the surprise result of a one night stand in Blackpool 25 years ago. The special followed a day in the life of the shop and its customers including retired Nurse Gladys Emmanuel and the Black Widow. Still Open All Hours is produced by BBC In House Comedy and stars Sir David Jason, David Jason, Lynda Barron, Stephanie Cole and Maggie Ollerenshaw.
The decision to pick up a full series of Still Open All Hours, which will again be written by Roy Clarke, comes after the special topped the ratings on Boxing Day, pulling in an average audience of 9.4 million viewers. The special’s consolidated audience of 12.2 million viewers/44% share also makes Still Open All Hours the most-watched comedy since The Vicar Of Dibley in 2007 and the third highest rated comedy in over a decade.
“The resounding success of the Christmas revival showed the huge and enduring audience affection for this much-loved classic”, said Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning. “Roy has done a terrific job of updating the characters whilst keeping what was warm-hearted and enjoyable about the world of the original series.”
While Mark Freeland, Controller of Fiction & Entertainment, added: “We were all delighted by the response that the Christmas Special received. It was so difficult to shut up shop after that. So we haven’t. Granville’s is well and truly open for business.”