Are You Being Served?

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Television series
Original title Are You Being Served?
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Year (s) 1972-1985
Episodes 70 in 10 seasons
genre Britcom
Theme music Ronnie Hazlehurst
idea Jeremy Lloyd ,
David Croft
First broadcast September 8, 1972 on BBC One

Are You Being Served? is a Britcom that aired in the UK on BBC One between 1972 and 1985 . There were 70 episodes broadcast in 10 seasons. The settings are the various departments in the fictional London department store Grace Brothers. The screenplay was written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft , with contributions from Michael Knowles (actor) and John Chapman. Lloyd developed the idea for the series while working for Simpsons of Piccadilly in the early 1950s, a real department store that has since closed.

The series aired in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States.

In 1992 and 1993, the BBC broadcast a spin-off series called Grace & Favor , which included most of the cast from the original series, which was called Are You Beinge Served? Again! was broadcast.

action

Are You Being Served? shows humor based on erotic allusions, misunderstandings, mix-ups and occasionally slapstick . The series parodies the class differences and pecking order in British society.

Characters

  • Captain Peacock, the haughty and pompous department head and war veteran - played by Frank Thornton . Thornton is also known from the long-lived Britcom Last of the Summer Wine .
  • Mr. Humphries, the effeminate mummy's boy and the smartest salesman - played by John Inman . Inman was also famous in Great Britain as a pantomime or pantomime lady .
  • Mrs. Slocombe, the seditious head of the women's department looking for men - played by Mollie Sugden . Sugden is known in Great Britain from many successful sitcoms and from the soap Coronation Street , the British model of Lindenstrasse .
  • Miss Brahms, the naive, pretty girl from the London working class and assistant to Mrs. Slocombe - Wendy Richard . Richard was also well known from the British soap EastEnders .
  • Mr. Grainger, the experienced and slightly senile "old hand" in the stable - played by Arthur Brough . After Brough's death in 1978, the position of chief of the men's department was filled several times, including by James Hayter .
  • Mr. Lucas, the young ladyboy who likes to counter Captain Peacock and Mrs. Slocombe - Trevor Bannister . Bannister is also known from the series The Dustbinmen and Last of the Summer Wine .
  • Mr. Rumbold, the autocratic but incompetent head of department - played by Nicolas Smith . With Smith's death in late 2015, the last remaining actor of the original cast died.
  • Mr. Grace, the rich and rather rickety proprietor - played by Harold Bennett . Bennett also played a role on the popular British sitcom Dad's Army .
  • Mr. Mash and Mr. Harmon, the handyman and girl for everything - played by Larry Martyn and Arthur English . As unionists, the characters Mash and Harmon like to shake the internal pecking order.

Episodes

Pilot episode (1972)

Season 1 (1973)

  • Dear Sexy Knickers ... In order to sell a customer a jacket that is too tight in the armpits, Mr. Humphries introduces Mr. Lucas to the art of "kneeing" (widening the sleeves with the knee). The newly learned technique applied to pants ends in a disaster. In order to save the messed up working day, Mr. Lucas decides to send a letter to Miss Brahms from the women's underwear department, which he addresses in an adventurous way with "Sexy Knickers". The delivery fails and falls into Captain Peacock's hands, who in turn instigates a chain of mix-ups.
  • Our Figures Are Slipping
  • Camping In
  • His and Hers
  • Diamonds Are a Man's Best Friend

Season 2 (1974)

  • The clock
  • Cold Comfort
  • The think tank
  • Big brother
  • Hoorah for the Holidays

Season 3 (1975)

  • The Hand of Fate
  • Coffee Morning
  • Up Captain Peacock
  • Cold store
  • Wedding bells
  • German Week
  • Shoulder to shoulder
  • New look
  • Christmas Crackers (Christmas Special)

Season 4 (1976)

  • No sale
  • Top hat and tails
  • Forward, Mr. Grainger
  • Fire Practice
  • Fifty Years On
  • Oh, what a tangled web
  • The Father Christmas Affair (Christmas Special)

Season 5 (1977)

  • Mrs. Slocombe Expects
  • A Change Is as Good as a Rest
  • Founder's Day
  • The Old Order Changes
  • Take-over
  • Goodbye Mr. Grainger
  • It pays to advertise

Season 6 (1978)

  • By appointment
  • The Club
  • Do You Take This Man?
  • Shedding the load
  • A bliss girl
  • Happy Returns (Christmas Special)

Season 7 (1979)

  • The junior
  • Strong Stuff This Insurance
  • The apartment
  • Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person
  • The Hero
  • Anything You Can Do
  • The agent
  • The Punch and Judy Affair (Christmas Special)

Season 8 (1981)

  • Is It Catching?
  • A personnel problem
  • Front page story
  • Sit out
  • He Apparent
  • Closed circuit
  • The Erotic Dreams of Mrs. Slocombe
  • Roots? (Christmas special)

Season 9 (1983)

  • The Sweet Smell of Success
  • Conduct Unbecoming
  • Memories Are Made of This
  • Calling all customers
  • Monkey business
  • Lost and Found

Season 10 (1985)

  • Goodbye Mrs. Slocombe
  • Grounds For Divorce
  • The hold up
  • Gambling fever
  • The night club
  • Friends and Neighbors
  • The Pop Star

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