List of Open All Hours characters

This is a list of characters from the BBC situation comedy Open All Hours and its sequel, Still Open All Hours.

Albert E. Arkwright (born 1927) is played by Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours.

Arkwright is a pragmatic, miserly man with old-fashioned values, whose world seems to stop at his shop door, except for his lusting for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, which prompts him on occasion to wander across the road, usually with a ladder, to gain access to her bedroom window. Arkwright is a devious, and mildly dishonest character, who has many crafty tricks to try to persuade a customer to leave his store having bought at least one thing, and will avoid spending his own money at all cost. He is also very protective of his savings, keeping some in his pocket wrapped in a fine gold chain, and some in an old, battered Oxo tin that he hides under the kitchen sink. This includes, or so he claims, coins from before 1922, when they were "solid silver". He is so protective of his money that the last time he spent a whole night away from the shop was in 1957, when he went to have his appendix removed. The shop's old till possesses a tight spring-clip that regularly puts Arkwright and Granville's fingers in danger. Arkwright refuses to replace it because of the cost of a replacement and because it deters thieves. Although an avid political commentator, he has few political convictions and never sides with either the left or right wing, instead implying they are all useless. Arkwright does however seem fervently opposed to nationalisation, once commenting "My top lip went all stiff and dead, as if it had been nationalised." His political comments usually show no allegiances, instead making remarks like When Wales get home rule, do you think they'll nationalise Clive Jenkins?

Arkwright maintains an openly polite demeanour around customers, but will often insult those who offend him in a veiled or open manner.

Arkwright appears to believe in God, although he is certainly not portrayed as a religious man. Most episodes end with him on the pavement outside the shop during closing time, contemplating the day's events. His thoughts often start with an expression like "Soon they'll only be me and thee that aren't either nationalised or a limited company."

Arkwright, like most characters in the series, is a rational, practical man, who shows no signs of any sentimentality, unlike Granville, who seems to dream away most of his days, and longs for a life away from the shop. Arkwright speaks with a stammer, which he acknowledges sometimes makes it difficult to express himself. He often makes his impediment into a joke, for example asking: Granville, how do you spell P-p-p-pepper? Is it 6 Ps or 7?, Granville occasionally mocks his uncle's speech pattern (such as calling the "weather fore-fore-forecast" the "weather twelvecast", and referring to the "B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BC" as Morse code), although never in a malicious or hurtful manner. Arkwright was shocked on one occasion to find that he also appears to stutter even when thinking to himself.

Ronnie Barker died in 2005 and, by the time of Still Open All Hours, Arkwright has also died and his shop has been bequeathed to Granville as promised, but almost all of his personality traits have passed onto Granville. Granville keeps a framed photograph of Arkwright in the shop's kitchen which he occasionally talks to. Several people in the town, including Granville, believe that Arkwright's ghost still haunts the shop, particularly the cash register, attributing events such as the lights switching on and off or the register randomly opening and closing to him. This is heavily implied to be true in Episode 6 of Series 1, which revolves around Granville's latest scheme under the pretence of holding a séance to contact Arkwright's ghost. Whilst his plan is unsuccessful the final scene sees Granville outside the shop when the lights go out, and they only turn back on after he playfully threatens Arkwright with changing the till if it carries on. The opening of Series 6 episode 5 also sees Granville talking to Arkwright's framed photo which moves in nods and shakes motions into response to him, seemingly of its own accord and without any further explanation.

Granville Arkwright (born 1948) is played by David Jason in Open All Hours and its sequel, Still Open All Hours. Granville is an errand boy to his uncle and employer, Albert Arkwright, who is the proprietor of an old-fashioned Yorkshire corner shop.