Arkwright is a pragmatic, miserly man with old-fashioned values, whose world seems to stop at his shop door, except for his lusting for Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, which prompts him on occasion to wander across the road, usually with a ladder, to gain access to her bedroom window.
Arkwright is a devious, and mildly dishonest character, who has many crafty tricks to try to persuade a customer to leave his store having bought at least one thing, and will avoid spending his own money at all cost.
He is also very protective of his savings, keeping some in his pocket wrapped in a fine gold chain, and some in an old, battered Oxo tin that he hides under the kitchen sink.
His political comments usually show no allegiances, instead making remarks like When Wales get home rule, do you think they'll nationalise Clive Jenkins?
Arkwright, like most characters in the series, is a rational, practical man, who shows no signs of any sentimentality, unlike Granville, who seems to dream away most of his days, and longs for a life away from the shop.
This is heavily implied to be true in Episode 6 of Series 1, which revolves around Granville's latest scheme under the pretence of holding a séance to contact Arkwright's ghost.
Whilst his plan is unsuccessful the final scene sees Granville outside the shop when the lights go out, and they only turn back on after he playfully threatens Arkwright with changing the till if it carries on.
The opening of Series 6 episode 5 also sees Granville talking to Arkwright's framed photo which moves in nods and shakes motions into response to him, seemingly of its own accord and without any further explanation.
Granville is an errand boy to his uncle and employer, Albert Arkwright, who is the proprietor of an old-fashioned Yorkshire corner shop.
Granville's father's identity is not known, as his mother is implied to be a woman of loose morals, and Arkwright considers him to have likely been a Hungarian, although he is unsure of this.
Although a kind provider (as long as it is not too stressful on his wallet), Arkwright's miserly and eccentric personality makes him withdraw Granville from school and he starts helping in his uncle's shop at age eleven.
Despite their radically different personalities and views on life, however, Granville has become a toned-down version of Arkwright in his old age, such as light-heartedly mocking Leroy over his mother's identity, and attempting to make money out of every customer who walks into the shop, even by telling fibs about certain items such as anchovy paste.
By the events of Still Open All Hours, Gladys reveals that she and Arkwright did not marry before his death, joking that he died "to save the cost of the church".
A somewhat dour woman who raised seven children, her personality resembles Staff's character Nora Batty in Roy Clarke's other sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.
A divorcee who combines her milk rounds with her Open University studies, she is occasionally receptive to Granville's interests, but makes it clear he's not her only potential suitor and in later episodes she is engaged to another man.