#arkwright

The reboot of Open All Hours—Still Open All Hours—is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of how to do a revival right. It’s not just a nostalgia cash grab or a hollow imitation. It manages to be its own thing while still looking, sounding, and feeling like the original, which is honestly such a rare feat.

The original Open All Hours (1976 - 1985) and followed Arkwright, a miserly, penny-pinching shopkeeper who ran a small corner shop with his timid, long-suffering nephew, Granville. Arkwright was eccentric and tight-fisted—always scheming new ways to offload dusty old stock at inflated prices. Granville, meanwhile, was stuck in a life he hadn’t chosen, running errands and manning the till, all while quietly dreaming of something more. But those dreams were never realized, because Arkwright kept him firmly tied to the shop—whether out of care, control, or both.

Fast forward to the reboot, Still Open All Hours (2014 - 2019), the story picks up after Arkwright’s death. Granville now runs the shop, stepping into the role of shopkeeper himself. And while the shelves and routine feel familiar, the dynamic has shifted. Granville has clearly inherited some of Arkwright’s habits—most notably his tendency to scheme and come up with elaborate pitches to sell off unwanted or outdated products. It’s a clear through line to his upbringing, a way the past echoes into the present.

But the real heart of the reboot lies in its generational shift. Granville now has an assistant of his own: his son, Leroy, who was left on his doorstep by his mother. Like Granville once did, Leroy helps out in the shop—but the way he’s being raised is markedly different from how Arkwright raised Granville.

Granville can still be a bit manipulative at times and occasionally overprotective. He certainly tries to rope Leroy into his quirky sales schemes. But unlike Arkwright, he gives his son freedom. Leroy is allowed to go out, meet people, date, and build a life outside the confines of the shop. Granville may grumble or tease him about it, but he doesn’t stand in his way.

That’s what makes Still Open All Hours more than just a continuation of the original. It’s about subtle generational change. Granville may still live in the same world, with the same shelves and scales and schemes—but he makes different choices. He gives his son space to be his own person. And in doing so, he breaks the cycle, just a little.

Okay, so I doubt anyone's really seen Open All Hours, but I've been rewatching it, and it's literally them

Like Arkwright (Mr Krabs) is always getting Granville (Squidward) to do a bunch of work for him and stuff and he gets all the benefits

Based on Season 2 Episode 5, Arkwright's Mobile Store (this one's really good lol)

Mrs Puff as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, because that's who Arkwright likes

anaïs (roz's mom) - veritable genius, highly conceptual researcher, high and abstract mathematics, heavy theory and calculation. useful to the prime cantor for gathering information, finding fundamental patterns, and building a strong understanding of basics that had been eluding her after centuries of stagnation. was ?killed? either accidentally or on purpose, and her death (and the circumstances/variables/effects thereof) was a keystone moment of understanding for the pc that had not had any equal for centuries. pc realizes a new direction she needs to take her country in, and starts pouring resources into r&d and general technology advancement to replace the dying magic systems (a consequence of choices and systems she made a long time ago, and on the whole intentional) - anaïs had been mistrustful of the pc and her intentions for her research for years, and much moreso after having roz; roz has a deeply veiled breadcrumb trail that she will one day follow to better understand her mother and the circumstances of her death, as well as her work, the potential consequences of it, and the responsibilities she's passing on to roz. anaïs was terrified of being unexpectedly taken away from her daughter by the prime cantor, and thus made concerted efforts to protect and hide information for roz, just in case. some of this has been destroyed by time or by roz's abusive grandmother, but anaïs was incredibly canny and a lot of her legacy still remains for her daughter to uncover.

stiffcollar - pc's despised secretary/bodyguard/bitch boy. he had no value to her and everything he did for her while in her service was basically pointless, because she ends up ritualistically sacrificing him to try to capture the same effects from when roz's mom died (?) - but it doesn't work, stiffcollar becomes... what he is now, and the cantor is tilted because she doesn't understand why he couldn't be useful for ONCE in his entire life. he is her tool in her system and she made him - hundreds of years ago, she made a society that would produce thousands of him, all useless and stupid and devoted to her - and it's unconscionable and deeply offensive to her that in half a millenia he's the first tool that she couldn't just dispose of after using (it's so unsettling to think of all the things - people - that may have slipped through the cracks in her flawless, ordered system -) - but even though he didn't die and even though she banished him from being anywhere near her because of that outrage that disguises a sliver of fear, him Not dying has given her new variables, new insight, and allowed her to start a whole new slew of living being rights violations in the three years since his un-death.

Old Slater Mill, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1969.

It's fascinating. I recently watched the masterpiece of horror and absurdity called The Death of Stalin by Armand Iannucci. It's a movie of ridiculous depth and sentiment with equal parts horror and absurdity. It's a pitch-perfect satire that speaks in ridiculous tones but remains brilliantly deep throughout.