Are You Being Served? (1972–1985)

The misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.

Creators:

David Croft, Jeremy Lloyd

Stars:

Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Mollie Sugden	...	Mrs. Betty Slocombe (69 episodes, 1972-1985)
John Inman	...	Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries (69 episodes, 1972-1985)
Frank Thornton	...	Captain Stephen Peacock (69 episodes, 1972-1985)
Wendy Richard	...	Miss Shirley Brahms (69 episodes, 1972-1985)
Nicholas Smith	...	Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold (69 episodes, 1972-1985)
Trevor Bannister	...	Mr. Dick Lucas (48 episodes, 1972-1979)
Arthur English	...	Mr. Beverley Harman (48 episodes, 1976-1985)
Harold Bennett	...	Young Mr. Grace (46 episodes, 1972-1981)
Arthur Brough	...	Mr. Ernest Grainger (34 episodes, 1972-1977)

Storyline

This quintessentially British sitcom is about Grace Brothers, a department store in London which is owned and kept traditional, almost pre-war (e.g. precise dress code for ladies frills and gentlemen's hats according to rank), by two brothers who look old enough to have fought in the Boer war but rarely appear, as most scenes play on one floor where Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold is the executive (meaning he enjoys an endless parade of foxy but stupid secretaries) in charge of management while his dignified floor walker, Captain Stephen Peacock, has daily charge over two small sales teams. The fat and bossy, implicitly man-hungry widow Mrs. Betty Slocombe supervises the attractive Miss Shirley Brahms (with a terribly common Cockney accent) -with first choice of customers, on commission- the sale of women's clothes and accessories; the sales star at the gentleman's side is Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humpries, an implied closet-gay true gentleman, whose successive superiors are first obviously ...

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Plot Keywords:

store | department store | customer | cockney accent | sitcom | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 1973 (UK)

Also Known As:

Grace Brothers

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

28 min 28 min (69 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With the death of Frank Thornton (Captain Stephen Peacock) on March 16, 2013 at age 92, the only member of the original cast still living is Nicholas Smith (Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold).

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Goofs

Throughout the series, the scripts constantly change the location of the Ladies' and Gentlemens' departments, sometimes referring to it being on the third floor, sometimes on the fourth. Also, the theme song lyrics indicate the department is on the first floor.

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Quotes

Mrs. Slocombe: You know, I always keep a couple of pound notes tucked away in me knickers, just for emergencies. Unfortunately, last week, I had an emergency.
Mr. Humphries: Ooh, what happened?
Mrs. Slocombe: The elastic broke and I dropped one in the Haymarket and it blew off down the street. Two seconds later, the other one followed it.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits listed the actors' names but not the corresponding names of the characters that they played.

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Connections

Referenced in Comedy Connections: It Ain't Half Hot, Mum (2007)

User Reviews

Double Entendre!

Are You Being Served is a fantastic example of British humor at its finest. Granted, with almost 30 years since the telecast of the first episode, some of the humor has become dated. However, the cast and script-writers took the concept of double entendre to a whole new level with the jokes in the show (the best one I think being about Mrs. Slocum's cat, if you get my drift!). The thing that makes the show stand the test of time is that they did not have to resort to outright obscenity and crudity to get the humor across. It requires a little bit of thought to follow some of the jokes, which while base, are veiled in "false propriety". It is something that I would have no problem letting my children watch because they would not get the jokes until they were old enough to understand and deal with the humor. What comedy today can we say the same about? The show also has the ability to pull you in, make you privy to the "secret jokes" and make you feel part of the club. You become bound up in the inside jokes and personalities, and can identify with the characters (within reason: who can understand the concept of Mrs. Slocum's changing hair-colors?!). Overall, it is a great series and well worth watching, even 27 years later!