Still Open All Hours most watched programme for that week. It received generally poor reviews from critics. Will Dean of "The Independent", referencing Arkwright's trademark stutter, called it "a w-w-worthy effort" but criticised the attempt to revive the show without the late Ronnie Barker. Ben Lawrence of "The Telegraph" said it "felt like a relic of another era" criticising the jokes and Jason's performance. Jacob Mason, writing on the Radio Times website, described the show as "warmly nostalgic", whilst others noted it as "a fitting tribute to Ronnie Barker". On 21 November 2014, the BBC confirmed that "Still Open All Hours" would return for
Ronnie Barker lamented that Barker was unable to take a role in one of his Shakespearean productions. Barker, though, preferred comedy, and felt it was "as good and as important as serious work" and he was not "dumbing down" by doing it. Actor Gene Wilder compared him to Charlie Chaplin in saying "no matter how farcical [his performance] was ... there was always an element of reality to what he did." Corbett praised Barker's skill at playing serious authority figures saying absurd things, using Barker's verbal dexterity and energetic performances. Barker's writing style was, for "The Times", "based on precise scripts and