The door’s Still Open
Sir David says sitcom’s finale could yet be filmed Here’s some muchneeded good news for fans of one of our best-loved stars.
Talk TV can reveal David Jason’s Still Open All Hours IS set to return to the box.
National treasure Sir David has revealed that the finale could be filmed as soon as it’s safe to do so.
It had been reported that the show would be axed for good without getting a proper send-off.
But Sir David (above), 80, who plays shopkeeper Granville, says: “Whether we’re able to do that next year is still a possibility.
“And we’re keeping our fingers crossed so it will bring an end to the lovely silliness of that series.” He reveals that Covid restrictions had prevented the cast reuniting for a finale.
He hopes cameras will roll in the next year so that the programme can wrap up after a seven-year run as one of the Beeb’s most beloved shows.
He admits that being unable to say farewell in 2020 has upset him, saying: “The thing that got me down the most was that shows that I was programmed to do, like the last couple or three episodes of Open All Hours, where we’re going to tie up all of the storylines and who marries who and they’re all going to live happily ever after, we never quite managed to do that because we all went into lockdown. That was a very sad time.”
His comments come three months after reports that the axe had fallen on the popular series.
It followed the original Open All Hours, written by Roy Clarke, which ran from 1976 to 1985 and co-starred Ronnie Barker.
Sir David was voted the nation’s hardest- working actor behind Olivia Colman, 46, and David Tennant, 49, and Dame Julie Walters, 70. Speaking to Radio 2’s Jason Mohammed, he jokes: “I just wanted to point out that coronavirus stopped me from beating them all.
“I’m only fourth because of coronavirus, which stopped lots of my productions which I was going to be in. “I am not jealous of any of
them.”
In EastEnders, Ian Beale is still shaken after his attack.
As a loud bang goes off near The Queen Vic, those close to Ian, played by Adam Woodyatt, fear his tormentor has finally made their move. Mum
Kathy (
rushes to be with him.
BBC One, tomorrow, 8pm
Holby City favourite Laila Rouass is set to put her scrubs back on and return to the BBC show.
Telly sources tell us she’ll be back in February as surgical registrar Sahira Shah after leaving the medical drama eight years ago. Laila, 49, quit the show after just one year so she could spend more time with her daughter Inez, then five.
We last saw the actress – engaged to snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan – as Sahira when she fled Holby City hospital after a disastrous final surgery and a huge bust-up with mentor Henrik Hanssen, played by Guy Henry .
Steph McGovern says she’s been squirrelling away food on the set of her Channel 4 talk show Steph’s Packed Lunch.
She reveals the extreme lengths she has to go to to stop producers throwing away meals on set. Steph, 38, says: “I get told off for eating all the food. I learned very quickly my food would disappear and I’d never see it again. I started hiding my food – it’s... round the back of the Christmas tree.”
Steph investigates the John Lewis department store in Inside John Lewis: Trouble at the Tills, Channel 4,
Monday, 8pm