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The Best Episodes Written By Roy Clarke

Every TV Episode Written by Roy Clarke Ranked from Best to Worst by Thousands of Voters

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    undefined Season 0 Episode 1 - The Father Christmas Suit
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S0:E1

    Hyacinth has bought Richard a Father Christmas outfit for him to wear when distributing gifts to the old people at the Church Hall. Against his will, Richard puts on the outfit, but after having one too many sherries with Emmett, he is unable to fulfil the deed, hence Elizabeth puts on the outfit and pretends to be Richard.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  2. undefined Season 1 Episode 6 - Apples and Self Service
    10.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E6

    Arkwright has bought too many apples and desperately tries in vain to persuade each successive customer to buy some. After raising eyebrows around town after finding a pair of shop window dummy's legs, Granville tells his uncle he should adopt the personal touch in his sales methods. Arkwright, however, plumps for self-service and then suspects everyone of shoplifting.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  3. undefined Season 0 Episode 1 - Open All Hours (Pilot)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S0:E1

    Episode 1 of the Ronnie Barker anthology series of pilots, Seven of One. Stammering shopkeep Albert Arkwright runs a tight little corner shop in a Doncaster suburb. Certainly he's tight when it comes to cost-saving and his put-upon nephew Granville, whose mother apparently gave birth to him after a fling with a Hungarian, bears the brunt of Arkwright's doomed money-making schemes. The lad has to ride a delivery bike when he'd rather impress the girl at the garage with a van. Meanwhile, Arkwright lusts after district nurse Gladys Emmanuel.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  4. undefined Season 9 Episode 4 - The Really Masculine Purse
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S9:E4

    After Compo claims that any man who uses a purse is effeminate, Seymour tries to invent a strictly masculine purse.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  5. undefined Season 1 Episode 4 - Beware of the Dog
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S1:E4

    When a crime wave hits the area, Arkwright decides to scare off any potential burglars by putting up a notice that says BEWARE OF THE DOG but, since everybody knows that he has no dog, he goes out to borrow one for the weekend from the local kennels.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  6. undefined Season 2 Episode 3 - Fig Biscuits and Inspirational Toilet Rolls
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S2:E3

    Whilst Granville moans about the shop opening at dawn, Arkwright bewails his inability to sell a load of fig biscuits and toilet rolls imprinted with biblical texts. The opportunity arises when Mavis mistakes the sepulchral voice of Granville in the cellar for a ghost advising her what to buy but unfortunately for Arkwright, he falls through the open trapdoor and breaks his leg.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  7. undefined Season 2 Episode 6 - Shedding at the Wedding
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S2:E6

    To the envy of Granville who has never attended one, Arkwright is taking Nurse Gladys to a wedding and has taken his old suit out of mothballs, but it still reeks of camphor. Gladys makes him hang it out of the car window as they drive along but the trousers end up under a tractor's wheels.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  8. undefined Season 3 Episode 6 - The Cool Cocoa Tin Lid
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S3:E6

    Fed up with tank-tops and shop pinnies, Granville decides to court a cool image. He gets a pair of shades and a nice fashionable shirt, but all that stops him from being the archetypal medallion man is a medallion. Perhaps a cocoa tin lid can provide a substitute.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  9. undefined Season 3 Episode 2 - The Ginger Men
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S3:E2

    When Arkwright finds himself with a surplus of Jamaican Ginger cakes, he tries various marketing ploys to sell them off, but hits the jackpot when he claims that the cakes contain drugs, leading customers fighting to get at them.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  10. undefined Season 4 Episode 2 - Horse-Trading
    9.5/10(2 votes)

    S4:E2

    Arkwright has a rival: corner shop owner Mr Gupta, so he sends Granville undercover – in a sari – to check him out. Arkwright believes he can get one over on his rival by selling him a load of genuine Yorkshire clotheshorses but he has reckoned without Gupta's business skills.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  11. undefined Season 0 Episode 2 - Sea Fever
    9.2/10(4 votes)

    S0:E2

    Hyacinth and Richard prepare for their luxury stay on the QE2. Yet traffic, a muddy field and too much luggage result in a disastrous start to a holiday that only gets much worse for Hyacinth when she has reason to believe Onslow and Daisy have stowed-away and are also onboard the luxury cruise.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  12. undefined Season 1 Episode 1 - Full of Mysterious Promise
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E1

    Stuttering shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, assisted by his much put-upon nephew Granville, runs the corner shop in a Doncaster suburb, boasting that it's open all hours. When not pursuing Gladys Emmanuel, the district nurse who lives opposite the shop, Arkwright is ever on the lookout to save money, such as buying a load of fire-damaged tinned food. Unfortunately, the damage means that all the labels have come off so nobody knows exactly what they're meant to be buying.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  13. undefined Season 1 Episode 5 - Well Catered Funeral
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E5

    Arkwright goes with Nurse Gladys to the funeral of his friend Parslow. He's not keen to leave Granville in charge but it affords the opportunity to get rid of some unwanted bakery products for the wake. Having rung the shop constantly to ensure that Granville has got things under control, he later tells him he should get out more — as this'll give Arkwright more opportunity with Nurse Gladys.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  14. undefined Season 1 Episode 2 - A Mattress on Wheels
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E2

    Fed up with having to do deliveries in all weathers on his bike, Granville suggests Arkwright invest in a van. Needless to say, his uncle balks at the expense until Granville points out that it could be a mattress on wheels, a means of impressing Nurse Gladys. Arkwright buys a secondhand one and Granville wishes he hadn't when he takes it out on the road.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  15. undefined Season 2 Episode 7 - St Albert's Day
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E7

    Arkwright has always told Granville his father was a Hungarian but then a real Hungarian comes into the shop. Could it be him? Arkwright is more concerned that he may be a shoplifter and hits on a cunning plan to part him from his jacket so that he can search the pockets for evidence. Welcome to the mythical feast day of St Albert!

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  16. undefined Season 2 Episode 4 - The New Suit
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E4

    Nurse Gladys has forced Arkwright to buy a new suit because she's tired of being seen around with him in a shabby suit.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  17. undefined Season 2 Episode 2 - The Reluctant Traveller
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E2

    Arkwright decides to take Nurse Gladys to a hotel, leaving Granville in a position to make his play for the milk round lady. However, Arkwright, hands on as ever and never keen to be too far away from the shop, has booked himself and Gladys into a hotel just round the corner — where he has problems with an extra-tight money belt.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  18. undefined Season 2 Episode 1 - Laundry Blues
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E1

    Nurse Gladys feels sorry for Granville, struggling to do the laundry by hand, and suggests to Arkwright that he buy a washing machine. Arkwright wants Gladys' affections but doesn't want to spend too much money, so he ensures that she sees a brand-new machine being delivered — which is then taken away and replaced by an elderly secondhand one.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  19. undefined Season 3 Episode 1 - An Errand Boy by the Ear
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S3:E1

    There are protests when Arkwright is caught dragging Granville around by his ear. Whilst Arkwright reasons that this is what errand boys are for, the customers choose to differ and force Arkwright to improve his nephew's lot in life.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  20. undefined Season 3 Episode 5 - The Man from Down Under
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S3:E5

    Arkwright learns that a former beau of Nurse Gladys' is returning from Australia, where he emigrated a couple decades ago to make his fortune. Naturally, Arkwright is disheartened to think that Gladys might be tempted by her old flame and sets about to take drastic action with the man he believes to be his rival.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  21. undefined Season 3 Episode 4 - How to Ignite Your Errand Boy
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S3:E4

    Arkwright considers yet another money-making scheme. Everybody seems to want fire-lighters in the winter so he can save cash by making his own — or rather getting Granville to make them in the shed at the back... with explosive results.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  22. undefined Season 4 Episode 6 - The Mystical Boudoir of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S4:E6

    Ever persistent to worm his way into Nurse Gladys' bedroom as well as her affections, Arkwright finds that flattery and chocolates are no use. But he's got a cunning plan to use Granville to impersonate a burglar, wearing a stocking mask to scare Gladys so that Arkwright can come running... into her room.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  23. undefined Season 0 Episode 6 - Getting Sam Home (1983 Christmas Special)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    S0:E6

    After Sam's inconsiderate demise at the home of Lily-Bless-Her, our trio are faced with the task of explaining to his wife about his wet feet and fluffy suit.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  24. undefined Season 4 Episode 7 - Let There Be Light
    8.7/10(3 votes)

    S4:E7

    It is the "bring and buy" sale at the Church hall and the Church goers are in for a shock because Hyacinth has volunteered Richard to fix the Church hall electrics, despite his lack of electrical capabilities. Meanwhile Onslow, Daisy, and Rose turn up with a Daddy believing he is back in the war.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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  25. undefined Season 2 Episode 9 - The Three-Piece Suite
    8.5/10(6 votes)

    S2:E9

    Hyacinth is very excited at the prospect of having her new three piece suite, an exact replica of the one at Sandringham House, delivered. She will also give Daisy and Onslow her old suite, provided they pick it up themselves. But of course these two events are likely to collide at some point, creating an insurmountable disaster.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Roy Clarke

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Roy Clarke Ratings Summary

"The Father Christmas Suit" is the best rated episode written by Roy Clarke. It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. It was directed by N/A. It aired on 12/25/1991 and is rated 0.0 points higher than their second-best episode, "Apples and Self Service".