I think there has been progress!

Hello everyone, It's probably a big surprise to suddenly hear from me after such a long time. I received notification the petition had been automatically closed after 366 days so I reopened it. I believe it is worth progressing. I previously mentioned it was noticeable in the 2015/16 run of "Still Open All Hours" the stammering mimicking was very minimal. Having watched the first three episodes so far it has , if anything, been even more minimal. In episode 3 it wasn't used at all. In episodes 1 and 2, David Jason as Granville faltered just once and it was just one repetition. It was also done very quickly. Indeed, I suspect many viewers missed it. It's possible it's coincidence and those who disagree with the petition might say I'm interpreting it how I want to. However, I strongly suspect we can 'pat each other backs' for having at least achieved that. If so, having experience from other areas of the BBC's stubbornness, I can say it's no mean achievement, particularly with just 79 signatures! My inference is that they are keeping it to the minimum possible but on principle don't want to stop it completely. Possibly they also hope those who disagree would argue we are being petty as it is so minimal. I previously explained I was for the time being resisting spending money on promoting the petition. That has now changed and I shortly will be. Anything you can do to promote it is appreciated. Finally, I include a link to a "Mail Online" article interviewing the sit-com's writer, Roy Clarke: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3735404/Open-Hours-writer-Roy-Clarke-says-PC-culture-killed-classic-sitcoms.html. He bemoans political correctness having gone mad and the 'thought police' taking away our ability to laugh at ourselves. I have two comments in response: firstly, I have some agreement political correctness has gone too far. However, while there is mixed opinion in the 'stammering community' as to whether stammering should be classed as a disability (I believe it can) we are agreed it is at least an impediment and one which for many can be extremely distressing. I don't believe even 'in those days' you would have got away with using most disabilities/impediments just to make people laugh if they were recognised by the general public as such. Secondly, I would say to Roy Clarke that many of us who stammer can laugh at ourselves. However, it is not for others to assume from that that it's okay to laugh at all stammering or the uninformed to assume it's funny, when they would not do that for other disabilities/impediments. Whatever spin is used to justify it, the programme's message is that stammering is funny. A slightly belated happy New Year and I look forward to writing my next update.