Arkwright (Open All Hours) Arkwright (Open All Hours) Albert E. Arkwright, usually referred to simply as Arkwright, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the British sitcom, "Open All Hours", played by Ronnie Barker. Arkwright is the uncle of Granville and the proprietor of an old fashioned Yorkshire corner shop, which in the era of the programme (1970s and 1980s) was a product of a bygone age. Arkwright's signature characteristic is his stutter, which Granville never misses an opportunity to mock. Arkwright is a pragmatic, miserly man with old-fashioned values, whose world seems to stop at his shop door, except for his
Open All Hours called "Alice, Where Art Thou?", written by Joseph Ascher. It was arranged for brass band and performed by Max Harris, who also wrote the incidental music for the programme. At the time of the programme's airing, it was widely known that some viewers objected to the show's reliance on a speech impediment for some of its laughs. Even so, Ronnie Barker's character was so amiable and the humour good-natured enough that most deemed it an unmalicious portrayal. Barker also notes in his autobiography "It's Hello from Him" that he received a letter which began "We are a family of stutterers...",