Open All Hours Cafe

Barrychuckle

Administrator
Staff member
I've just watched Getting On Sidneys Wire and in the scene where the trio are sat on chairs outside the cafe you can see the opening times board. And it shows 10am - 11pm (and closed on Wednesday)

This seems to be very long opening and highly unlikely for a cafe, I heard that there was originally a chip shop where the cafe was and these opening times would make a lot more sense for a fish & chip shop, do you think this was their board?
 
From what I understand exterior shots were on location and, except for the occasional exception, interior shots were done in studio. I think the time board is probably a prop with a lot less attention to detail than we like to imagine. I doubt the prop wrangler in the studio had any clue that the day of the week figured in another part of the episode. Especially if the debate over the day was done on location and the cafe scene was done in studio.
 
I believe the cafe had been a chip shop, a paint shop, and an ironmongers in real life.

I would have expected that list of opening times to be a prop.

In the early episodes the cafe appeared to open late at night:
In Spring Fever the cafe is open when Compo and the housekeeper are having their 'night out'.
In Who's That Dancing with Nora Batty? the cafe is having a farewell party at night.

In later series it became apparent the cafe did breakfasts, so I would imagine they would be doing these before 11am.

But I imagine that list of opening hours is just some prop someone picked up and dressed the location with, not expecting anyone to be talking about it 45 years later.
 
One source says it was an ironmongers, and the ironmonger turned into a cafe, because fans kept turning up expecting to find a real cafe.

The exterior of the real building was drastically changed mid-way through Series 6, as was the studio set, and the cafe came respectable in the programme.

So I don't know if it was at this time it became a real cafe.

No one has ever been tempted to re-paint the outside of the building brown again, it's stayed white.

It's hard to find out extensive info on the history of the building.
 
Was it still a chippy when the pilot was filmed, or was Kaye's using it to store their supplies of paint? I read in either Andrew Vine's or Alan Bell's book that the hardware store owner had removed the fryers to the space that is now Beatties' and moved the paint supplies in without doing any cleanup. The space still reeked of rancid fat, so no one spent more than a very short time inside - only when the script called for them to be shown exiting the building.
 
That would make sense as they seem like Chip Shop opening hours

Most Chip shops used to split their hours so typically 12 -2 and then 5-10 because people always hung back from being the first punters at 5 suspecting they'd get lunchtime leftovers reheated . In which case we are back to the prop synopsis. Way too many Agatha Christies , including me , on here or perhaps SWerlock Holmesfirths is more appropriate :)
 
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