Unassuming corner shop was seen by millions on classic 70s sitcom – but would you recognise it?
It was earmarked for demolition before campaigners saved it in 2008
HOUSE ABOUT THAT Unassuming corner shop was seen by millions on classic 70s sitcom – but would you recognise it?
A CORNER shop from a classic 70s sitcom went under the hammer last year and is now an unassuming home.
The building quietly sits in the Balby suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
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What used to be a tourist hotspot is now a quiet building
Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
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Ronnie Barker seen in the sitcom Open All Hours
Credit: Alamy
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Many passersby would not know it used to be famous
Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
It went under the hammer with a guide price of £150,000, before selling for £145,000 in October.
It's likely that those living next-door have no idea that the building was once on one of Britain's most iconic TV shows.
Open All Hours, which aired in 1976, ran for four seasons.
It was rated the eighth best sitcom in the country in 2004.
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The show ran from 1976 to 1985 and had 17 million viewers a week at its peak.
Created by Roy Clarke, the plot followed Albert Arkwright, who runs a grocery shop in Doncaster's Balby and is in love with Nurse Gladys, who lives opposite his shop.
But Gladys rejects his proposals as she has to look after her ill mother.
The fictional shop owned by Arkwright - played by Ronnie Barker - used a residential property for exterior shots.
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After the show ended, the building went up for auction but failed to sell.
It was earmarked for demolition before campaigners saved it in 2008.
The property was then concerned into a unisex hairdressers, called the Beautique hair salon.
Auctioneers hoped that the property's TV history would attract plenty of bidders when it went to auction on October 16 with a guide price of £150,000.
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The building came with two self-contained flats on the upper floor and boasts an annual rent of £16,440 when fully let.
Film crews moved in for weeks at a time for each series of Open All Hours.
The end-terrace on Lister Avenue in Balby, less than a mile from Doncaster city centre, became a tourist attraction over the years.
But now, those passing by would never guess at the house's history and fame.
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Ronnie Barker as A E Arkwright, co-stars Lynda Baron (Nurse Gladys) and David Jason (Arkwright's nephew/assisstant Granville) outside the shop
Credit: PA
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The outside of the shop was iconic during the show's peak popularity
Credit: Alamy
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