determine Britain's Best Sitcom; Porridge finished seventh and Open All Hours eighth. Barker was the first actor originally considered for the role of Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. However, he turned the role down and it went to Michael Crawford. Barker's next sitcom, The Magnificent Evans, which was about a Welsh photographer and aired in 1984, was not successful. His final sitcom, Clarence in which he played Clarence Sale, a removal man with failing sight, aired in 1988. Barker wrote the show himself, again using a pseudonym, this time as "Bob Ferris". Retirement and re-appearances In 1987, before Clarence aired and after rejecting Hall's offer of the part of Falstaff in a Royal National Theatre production of Henry IV, Part 1 & 2, Barker retired from show business, aged 58, "at the height of his fame", citing a decline in his own writing quality, lack of ambition and ideas, and a desire to go out on top so as not to damage his legacy, as well as concerns about the state of his heart. He had decided to retire in 1985 but his decision was kept secret for two years, Corbett being the only one knowing about it. He made his decision public on an appearance on the chat show Wogan. Retired, Barker opened and ran an antiques shop called The Emporium in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire and resisted all calls to come out of retirement from then onwards. He joked: "I lose money every week, but it's a hobby. It's cheaper than skiing and safer at my age." Because of its unprofitability, the shop was sold after ten years. He wrote his autobiography, Dancing in the Moonlight: My Early Years on Stage in 1993 and released All I Ever Wrote, his complete scripts, in 1999. He wrote the play Mum for his daughter Charlotte Barker in 1998, which was performed at The King's Head Theatre, but garnered a negative response, with Barker stating it got "the worst notices of any play in the history of the theatre." Just over a decade after retiring, Barker was persuaded to make occasional appearances on television again. In 1997 he appeared with Corbett at the Royal Command Performance, driving on stage on a motorcycle combination as the Two Fat Ladies, and in 1999 he was reunited with Corbett for Two Ronnies Night on BBC One, and the following year for