'Rudest stuff went on' during filming of Doncaster sitcom, actress reveals

Actress Sue Holderness, who also played Marlene in Only Fools and Horses and who stars as Mrs Rossi in the Balby-filmed cornershop comedy, has spoken about the ‘naughty’ behaviour of her co-star Sir David Jason on set.

The actress admitted that “some of the rudest stuff” occurred in the green room they all shared in Pinewood Studios at the time.

She divulged: “When I was doing Still Open All Hours, we had a green room at Pinewood Studios and because we all knew each other and we’d all worked together for decades, some of the rudest stuff went on in there.

“And the funniest, I’ve never laughed so much in my life!"

The actress, 71, admitted she found it hard to “get through” filming with her co-stars without “giggling”.

In an interview with Express.co.uk about Alzheimer’s Society’s Memory Walk she said: “They were very, very naughty.

“I can report now that there was a great deal of giggling and a lot of it was almost impossible to get through.

She added: “I could bore you with all the practical jokes, but they were very naughty and that’s really what made it fun.”

Due to their backstage banter, one of Sue’s co-stars Katie Redford began planning on writing a series based on their antics.

She added: “Katie Redford said, ‘One day, I’m going to write this series, I’m going to write the Pinewood Studios green room’ because you hear a lot of very juicy stuff!”

Open All Hours first aired in Britain in 1973, featuring the antics of penny-pinching shopkeeper Arkwright, played by the late Ronnie Barker and his long-suffering nephew Granville, played by Sir David Jason.

The original series, filmed at the converted Beautique hair dressing salon on the corner of Scarth Avenue and Lister Avenue in Balby, ran for four series until 1985.

The show returned for what was initially a one-off Christmas special in 2013, starring Jason now running the shop alongside his son Leroy and has had a number of series since then.