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
Jason King (TV series) inspirations (especially his clothes) for Kim Newman's psychic crime fighter and secret agent Richard Jeperson. Wyngarde is said to have been the inspiration for the character of Fireball in the strip of the same name in D.C. Thompson's "Bullet" comic. "The Two Ronnies" performed a sketch entitled 'Jason King', with Ronnie Corbett putting on all the airs and graces of King and Ronnie Barker playing a suspect in a murder investigation, during their third series in 1973. Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the "Comic Strip Presents" episode "Detectives on the Edge