Are You Being Served? 

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

Creators:

Jeremy Lloyd, David Croft

Stars:

Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Mollie Sugden	...	Mrs. Slocombe 69 episodes, 1972-1985
John Inman	...	Mr. Humphries / ... 69 episodes, 1972-1985
Frank Thornton	...	Captain Peacock 69 episodes, 1972-1985
Wendy Richard	...	Miss Brahms 69 episodes, 1972-1985
Nicholas Smith	...	Mr. Rumbold / ... 69 episodes, 1972-1985
Trevor Bannister	...	Mr. Lucas 48 episodes, 1972-1979
Arthur English	...	Mr. Harman 48 episodes, 1976-1985
Harold Bennett	...	Young Mr. Grace 46 episodes, 1972-1981
Arthur Brough	...	Mr. 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 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 nearly ...

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Plot Keywords:

store | department store | british comedy | workplace | workplace comedy | 

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Taglines:

I'm Free !

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

Are You Being Served?

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

28 min (69 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mr. Tebbs (James Hayter) and Young Mr. Grace (Harold Bennett) were the only characters to ever be given a departure story line (Tebbs retired and Young Mr. Grace reduced his office hours in favor of holidaying), although Bennett did reprise his role once in "Roots?" Once his replacement Old Mr. Grace also departed, the characters were "merged" into one and although unseen in the last two seasons, was referred in every episode as "Mr. Grace", without the "young/old" monikers attached. Everyone else who left the show simply disappeared and was never mentioned again.

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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

Mr. Rumbold: Let's try to keep it light and gay.
Mr. Lucas: [to Mr. Humphries] I'll handle the "light" part.

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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 Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (2006)

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!