Open All Hours with Roadshow released "Series One: Episodes 1–3 Comedy Bites" in 2010. In 1984, at which time no new episodes of the series had been produced for two years, a spin-off was proposed based around Lynda Baron's character, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel. Given the working title "Call the Nurse", this spin-off series would have followed Nurse Gladys as she visited various eccentric and demanding patients. The characters of Arkwright and Granville were not written to appear, and Roy Clarke was keen to develop a new set of supporting characters rather than rely on those already built up for "Open All Hours". A
Ronnie Barker from Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Barker and Corbett opted to move with their families to Sydney, Australia in 1979 for the year to exploit a tax loophole and avoid paying the year's income tax. They performed their stage show for four weeks in Sydney and a further four in Melbourne; because of their existing popularity in Australia and, what Corbett terms, the Australian audiences' "[comedic] soul that still related to the UK," they made no changes to the routine. Barker made no other appearances that year and spent his time writing and engaging in recreational activities. Following the