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 gave him his break, casting him as the Chantyman and Joe Silva in his production of "Mourning Becomes Electra" at the Arts Theatre in London's West End in 1955. By the time he had made it to the West End, Barker had appeared in an estimated 350 plays. Barker remained a West End actor for several years, appearing in numerous plays between 1955 and 1968. These included, in 1955, two performances each night as he played a gypsy in "Listen to the Wind" at the Arts Theatre and then a peasant in "Summertime" later in the evening. Other roles included