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 the show continued its ratings success. Both shows placed in the top ten of the 2004 poll to determine Britain's Best Sitcom; "Porridge" finished seventh and "Open All Hours" eighth. Barker's next sitcom, "The Magnificent Evans", which was about a Welsh photographer and aired in 1984, was not successful. His final sitcom, "Clarence" in which he played Clarence Sale, a removal man with failing sight, aired in 1988. Barker wrote the show himself, again using a pseudonym, this time as "Bob Ferris". In 1987, before "Clarence" aired and after rejecting Hall's offer of the part of Falstaff in a Royal