Johnny Vegas is Still Open to learning from Sir David​ Jason

JOHNNY Vegas says every day was a school day on the set of Still Open All Hours.

The popular sitcom is back for a Christmas special and, despite all his years of experience, Johnny admits working alongside comedy legend Sir David Jason was an education.

“You’re learning from the master,” Johnny told iN10.

“What’s really nice is that when we’re making this we get a lot of time to prepare the scenes and get them just right.

“The kind of comedy I’ve been used to in the past was real seat of the pants stuff.

“But there’s a very different technique that you pick up and learn on this.

“With Sir David it’s all about how not to waste a moment within a scene.

“The comedy is there in Roy Clarke’s writing, but you watch him and he’s looking at exactly where the funniest place is to put this or that.

“It’s a wonderful feeling when you get that ‘to you, to me’ sort of a thing.”

The original Open All Hours series ran over four series between 1973 and 1985 with Sir David, as Granville, starring alongside fellow comedy giant, the late Ronnie Barker.

A one-off 40th anniversary special aired on Boxing Day 2013 and pulled in big audiences, so a new series, Still Open All Hours, was commissioned and it has once again become one of the BBC’s most popular shows.

“Sir David’s a genuine national treasure,” says Johnny.

“So being alongside him on something I grew up watching is a bit bizarre.

“You have these memories of sitting watching it as a kid with your family and if someone had said to me back then that I’d be in it I just wouldn’t have been able to get my head round that.

“I savoured the original Christmas special thinking that would be it, but to have now made the fourth series is brilliant.

“And the rest of the cast have become such good friends.

“Stephanie Cole, who tends to play such stern characters, is hilarious.

“We have a green room when we’re waiting to go on set and it’s like being at a grown-up youth club, having fun sitting round shooting the breeze.”

While we’re all lounging around watching the on-screen fun over the festive period, Johnny will get the chance to do exactly the same.

“When I was an impoverished stand-up comedian I always used to have to work through the Christmas holidays,” he adds.

“Now being off to enjoy that family time is a big thing for me.

“I clear my schedule, put my fingers in my ears and don’t listen to my long-suffering assistant or agent and keep that time free.”