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

Producer Garry Marshall created a 1979 pilot for an American version of Are You Being Served? (1972). It was titled "Beanes of Boston", and was screened but never found a network buyer.

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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

[the nurse is coaching Old Mr. Grace on an electric bicycle]
Mr. Grace's Nurse: I've got a surprise for you, Mr. Grace. You've been doing it on your own the last five minutes.
Old Mr. Grace: You get used to that sort of thing at my time of life.

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Crazy Credits

Closing credits were preamble with the caption, "You have been watching" followed by each actor, either breaking the fourth wall to the camera or still in character relating to the episode. Sometimes, like the episode "Camping In", this would include the customer shown in the store at night, long after it was closed, since the episode ended with the store employees spending the night in the store.

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Connections

Featured in Screenwipe: Episode #4.4 (2007)

User Reviews

PURE AWESOME

I have seen every episode in this show at least 10 or more times for sure. So let me tell you the sets are by today's standards cardboard like the, props sort of dated.

BUT that said you would be a fool to let that stop you from seeing this awesome example of Double Entendre! taken to the highest comedic extremes. No other show is so packed with things that on the surface suggest daily life that one who has an active mind easily finds a more gutter snipe meaning to what was said.

A perfect example follows where Mrs. Slocumbe was talking to a truck driver on the road via CB radio from the Grace Brothers store. Mrs. Slocumbe an avid feline lover and, owner has a cat named tiddles. She is constantly on the hunt for a man like a British Sadie Hawkins this guy was a hot prospect seeing he too sounded keen on her. Mrs. Slocumbe regales the truck driver with all her home spun skills and loves... you hear the truck driver obviously in the midst of driving his big rig as Mrs. Slocumbe begins telling the truck driver of her pussy <cat> and how it wins a prize every time she shows it. You hear the wheels lock and, screech as dude looses control of his rig and, the connection is broken. Not to mention she was dressed as a punk rocker in a rainbow Amazon woman outfit when talking to the man.

Whey was she in the punk rocker garb well. Well this just a hint of the funny things you will find on this show... You just have to get the videos DVD's whatever's available but one thing for sure you will never ever be sorry you did.