Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Episode guide
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Are You Being Served?

  • TV Series
  • 1972–1985
  • TV-PG
  • 28m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
8.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,576
74
Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
Watch 9Gem Promo Trailer
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
99+ Photos
Comedy

The misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.The misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.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
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    8.8K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,576
    74
    • Creators
      • Jeremy Lloyd
      • David Croft
    • Stars
      • Mollie Sugden
      • John Inman
      • Frank Thornton
    • 75User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 1 nomination total

    Episodes69

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos1

    9Gem Promo Trailer
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch 9Gem Promo Trailer

    Photos480

    Trevor Bannister, Mike Berry, Arthur Brough, Arthur English, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Harold Bennett, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Nicholas Smith, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, and Mollie Sugden in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    John Inman and Mollie Sugden in Are You Being Served? (1972)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Mollie Sugden
    Mollie Sugden
    • Mrs. Slocombe
    John Inman
    John Inman
    • Mr. Humphries…
    Frank Thornton
    Frank Thornton
    • Captain Peacock
    Wendy Richard
    Wendy Richard
    • Miss Brahms
    Nicholas Smith
    Nicholas Smith
    • Mr. Rumbold…
    Trevor Bannister
    Trevor Bannister
    • Mr. Lucas
    Arthur English
    Arthur English
    • Mr. Harman
    Harold Bennett
    Harold Bennett
    • Young Mr. Grace
    Arthur Brough
    Arthur Brough
    • Mr. Grainger
    Vivienne Johnson
    Vivienne Johnson
    • Mr. Grace's Nurse
    Penny Irving
    Penny Irving
    • Miss Bakewell…
    Mike Berry
    Mike Berry
    • Mr. Spooner
    Larry Martyn
    Larry Martyn
    • Mr. Mash
    Freddie Wiles
    • Goddard
    Doremy Vernon
    • Canteen Manageress…
    Candy Davis
    • Miss Belfridge
    Alfie Bass
    Alfie Bass
    • Mr. Goldberg
    Kenneth Waller
    Kenneth Waller
    • Old Mr. Henry Grace
    • Creators
      • Jeremy Lloyd
      • David Croft
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Are You Being Served? Again!
    7.7
    Are You Being Served? Again!
    Are You Being Served?
    6.1
    Are You Being Served?
    Keeping Up Appearances
    7.8
    Keeping Up Appearances
    The Good Life
    8.0
    The Good Life
    Open All Hours
    7.6
    Open All Hours
    Dad's Army
    8.1
    Dad's Army
    To the Manor Born
    7.4
    To the Manor Born
    The Vicar of Dibley
    8.0
    The Vicar of Dibley
    The Two Ronnies
    7.8
    The Two Ronnies
    Absolutely Fabulous
    8.2
    Absolutely Fabulous
    Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
    7.6
    Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
    'Allo 'Allo!
    8.4
    'Allo 'Allo!

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The "lift voice" heard during the theme song played in each episode is that of Stephanie Gathercole who plays Mr. Rumbold's secretary in the earliest episodes.
    • Goofs
      Throughout the series, the entire staff of the floor takes breaks together. That would mean that the entire floor would be closed due to lack of employees during break times. Indeed, one episode specifically deals with this problem. Mr. Grace feels that they are losing too much business during this hour, and pushes the lunch break back to later in the afternoon, leading the staff to hit the roof.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Slocombe: [removes her gas mask] What about this fog! My pussy's been gasping all night.

    • 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.
    • Connections
      Edited into Auntie's Bloomers: More Auntie's Bloomers (1992)

    User reviews75

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Hilarious Mollie Sugden and John Inman... Priceless
    ARE YOU BEING SERVED had a long run on British TV, from 1972 to 1985. This groundbreaking series paved the way for many other famous Brticoms. But this one was the first to feature a gay character and delighted audiences with its naughty and unending double entendres.

    Set in a dismal department store, Grace Brothers, the basic plot revolves around the sales people in the ladies' and gents' departments, forced to share floor space. Of course there are other store employees and many hapless customers. This basic structure saw something like 69 episodes filmed over 13 years as well as many cast changes.

    The series was first seen as a starring vehicle for the swinging bachelor, Mr. Lucas, played by Trevor Bannister. As the junior sales clerk in the men's department, Lucas was always short of money and anxious to get out of the store to chase "birds." But after a few episodes two other characters emerged from the pack as audience favorites.

    The blowzy Mrs. Slocombe, played by Mollie Sugden, was a middle-aged woman with an ever-changing hair color. She could switch between Cockney and Posh accents in a heartbeat and was often the butt of Lucas' crude jokes. Mrs. Slocombe had an alarming habit of referring to her "pussy" but was always blithely unaware of how these stories were taken by others.

    The character of Mr. Humphries, played by John Inman, embraced many gay stereotypes but at heart he was a sweet and non-threatening character. Like Mrs. Slocombe, he had his own set of double entendres, but he winkingly made it known he knew exactly what he was saying.

    Other main characters included the pompous floorwalker, Captain Peacock, played by Frank Thornton; the busty sales girl Miss Brahms, played by Wendy Richard, the crusty senior sales clerk, Mr. Grainger, played by Arthur Brough, the dim manager, Mr. Rumbold, played by Nicholas Smith, and the ancient store owner, Young Mr. Grace, played by Harold Bennett.

    There were also crude maintenance men, Mr. Mash, played by Larry Martyn, who was succeeded by Mr. Harman, played by Arthur English, and a series of busty-but-dumb secretaries.

    After Bannister left the series and Brough passed away, there was a series of replacements for these characters but none were terribly successful. Pop star Mike Berry had a decent run as Mr. Spooner, "the junior," and a series of actors had turns replacing Brough as "the senior." Alfie Bass, James Hayter, Benny Lee, and Milo Sperber all had short runs.

    Over all the years, however, the hearts of the series were Mollie Sugden and John Inman. Both were superb comic actors who were game for just about anything. Anything here meant outlandish costumes (Inman often in drag), musical numbers, dances, and knock-about slapstick comedy that was done live and apparently in front of an audience. Sugden was often asked to wear ridiculous costumes, ranging from rompers to lederhosen. Inman even appeared as his own mother.

    The bottom line is that this series was silly but sweet. Its crude language and situations were easily forgiven because the actors were so damned good. Like a handful of other TV classics, ARE YOU BEING SERVED has never stopped running. This was a famous import for PBS) along with other Britcoms) and became a staple of that network.

    The show was so popular, it spawned a 1977 movie in which the gang all go on holiday together. There was also a sequel series called GRAVE AND FAVOUR or ARE YOU BEING SERVED AGAIN? In which Sugden, Inman, Thornton, Richard, and Smith all retire to the country and run a hotel (owned by Grace Brothers) in exchange for free board.
    helpful•44
    3
    • drednm
    • Apr 15, 2010

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ2

    • Who are the other female sales workers? They don't seem to be included in sales meetings.
    • What was the reason that the male actors in the Gentlemen's department left the show?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 8, 1972 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Spasibo za pokupku
    • Filming locations
      • BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      28 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, and Frank Thornton in Are You Being Served? (1972)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Are You Being Served? (1972) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit pageAdd episode

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.