Ronnie Barker same year, determined not to be remembered only as Fletcher, Barker opted to end "Porridge" after three series and instead focused on the second pilot "Open All Hours", alongside David Jason. Barker starred as Arkwright, a money-grabbing, stuttering shopkeeper. Arkwright's stutter was not in the script; Barker was inspired to use it by Melvyn's performance and use of a stutter in a 1955 play the two performed at the Palace Theatre called "Hot Water". "Open All Hours" aired one series in 1976 on BBC Two but was not renewed due to low ratings. As a result, Barker backtracked on his
Ronnie Barker best light entertainment performance four times, among other awards, and received an OBE in 1978. Later television sitcoms such as "The Magnificent Evans" and "Clarence" were less successful and he retired in December 1987. The following year, he opened an antiques shop with his wife, Joy. After 1999, he appeared in smaller, non-comic roles in films. He died of heart failure on 3 October 2005, aged 76. Barker was born on 25 September 1929 at 70, Garfield Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire, the only son of Leonard William (inexplicably, but always, known as "Tim") Barker and Edith Eleanor (née Carter; known as