Are You Being Served?

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Are You Being Served?
Title card of pilot.
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jeremy Lloyd & David Croft
Written by	Jeremy Lloyd David Croft Michael Knowles John Chapman
Directed by	David Croft Bernard Thompson Harold Snoad Ray Butt Gordon Elsbury John Kilby Martin Shardlow
Starring	Mollie Sugden Frank Thornton John Inman Wendy Richard Nicholas Smith Trevor Bannister Arthur English Harold Bennett Arthur Brough James Hayter Alfie Bass Mike Berry Larry Martyn Kenneth Waller
Theme music composer	Ronnie Hazlehurst
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	10
No. of episodes	69 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Croft
Producer(s)	David Croft Harold Snoad Bob Spiers Martin Shardlow
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC1
Original run	8 September 1972 – 1 April 1985
Chronology
Related shows	Comedy Playhouse Are You Being Served? (film) Are You Being Served? (Australian TV series) Beane's of Boston Grace & Favour

Are You Being Served? was a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the men's and women's departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John Chapman. The idea for the show came from Lloyd's brief period working at Simpsons of Piccadilly in the early 1950s, a clothing store which traded for over 60 years until 1999.^[1]

In 2004, it came 20th in Britain's Best Sitcom.

[edit] Characteristics

Are You Being Served? featured humour based on sexual innuendo, misunderstandings, mistaken identity and occasional slapstick. In addition, there were sight gags generated by outrageous costumes which the characters were sometimes required to wear for store promotions, and gaudy store displays frequently featuring malfunctioning robotic mannequins. The show is remembered for its prolific use of double entendres.

The main humorous base of the series was a merciless parody of the British class system. This permeated almost every interaction and was especially evident in the conversations between the maintenance men and the ostensibly higher-class store personnel.The episodes rarely left the store, and to parody the stereotype of the British class system, characters rarely addressed each other by their given names, even after work. When they did, it was almost always for a comical effect.

The main characters included stereotypes as the effeminate Mr. Humphries, who lived with his mother; Captain Peacock, the haughty floorwalker who purportedly fought in the North Africa Campaign of World War II (but was actually in the Service Corps and was never in a combat situation); the snobbish and boisterous Mrs. Slocombe with her ever-changing hair colour; Miss Shirley Brahms, a young, attractive, working-class, cockney-speaking junior assistant to Mrs. Slocombe; Mr. Rumbold, the autocratic, obsequious (to Young Mr. Grace), easily confused section manager; Mr. Lucas, the young, money-less, woman-chasing junior salesman; and Young Mr. Grace, the very old, rich but stingy, woman-catching store owner.

The show spawned many catch phrases including:

• "Are you free?", usually said by Captain Peacock to the staff; more often than not, the staff are noticeably free, and each would look solemnly from side to side before answering, "Yes, I'm free, Captain Peacock." John Inman remarked, when Mr. Humphries trilled, "I'm free!", it became his own personal catchphrase.

• Whenever one of the staff asked Captain Peacock if he was free, he would look all around the floor and then say, "At the moment, yes."

• "They'll ride up with wear", about the length of pairs of trousers or sleeves of jackets that were sold. In fact, it was used to justify selling anything that did not fit the customer;

• "MENSwear", (in a very masculine, but fake, voice), whenever Mr. Humphries answered the phone;

• "...and I am unanimous in that!" (Mrs. Slocombe);

• "Weak as water!" (Mrs. Slocombe);

• "A glass of water for Mr. Grainger!" (Mr. Lucas);

• "What makes you think it's a 'he?!'" (or "him") was a phrase that Mr. Humphries always said whenever someone asked him a question about a friend that he mentioned (whom he always referred to as "my friend"). They assumed almost automatically that the friends he referred to were male.

• Whenever Young Mr. Grace addresses the staff he says "You've all done very well!" The staff always responds in unison, "Thank you, Mr. Grace!"

• Whenever someone would see Young Mr. Grace for the first time, he or she would turn to someone who had seen him previously and say, "That's Young Mr. Grace?" and the other person would answer, "Old Mr. Grace doesn't get about as much."

During its run, the series attracted some mild criticism for its reliance on sexual stereotypes and sexual double entendres, including jokes about Mrs. Slocombe's "pussy" (cat) e.g. Mrs Slocombe: "Animals are very psychic; the least sign of danger and my pussy's hair stands on end". John Inman's camp portrayal of Mr. Humphries as an effeminate man could easily be misinterpreted by viewers. Inman pointed out that Mr. Humphries' true sexual orientation was never explicitly stated in the series, and David Croft said in an interview that the character was not homosexual, but "just a mother's boy".^[2] With a broad mixture of stereotypical gay characteristics, some apparent heterosexual attractions, and always picking up on ambiguous words such as 'queen', 'gay' and 'camp', viewers were left wondering about Mr. Humphries' sexual orientation. In an episode of the spin-off Grace & Favour, the character is further described as neither a "woman's man" nor a "man's man" and as being "in limbo".

The characters sometimes broke the fourth wall for a comical effect.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Characters

[edit] Episodes

The cast of Are You Being Served? in late 1981: from left to right: back row Arthur English as Mr. Harman, Wendy Richard as Miss Brahms, Benny Lee as Mr. Klein, Mike Berry as Mr. Spooner. front row Nicholas Smith as Mr. Rumbold, Frank Thornton as Captain Peacock, Mollie Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe, Vivienne Johnson as the nurse, John Inman as Mr. Humphries, Kenneth Waller as Old Mr. Grace, Louise Burton as Mr. Grace's secretary.

Are You Being Served? was first broadcast on 8 September 1972 on the BBC, in the form of a pilot for the series Comedy Playhouse. It only aired when it did because of free airspace created by the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics. The pilot was reshown at the beginning of the first series on 14 March 1973. That first series was aired in the same timeslot as Coronation Street on ITV, and consequently received relatively little attention. However, repeats shown later in the year were much more successful.^[3] Although the pilot was produced in colour, only a black-and-white version of this episode remains.

The show went on to receive huge audiences, with later episodes attracting up to 22 million viewers.^[4] After 10 series, 69 episodes and a 13-year run, Are You Being Served? came to an end on 1 April 1985.

In addition, the cast performed in character for a stage sketch on the BBC1 programme Variety on 19 June 1976.

[edit] Theme song

The theme song, written by the show's co-writer David Croft and composer Ronnie Hazlehurst, consists of a lift girl (whose voice was provided by Stephanie Gathercole) announcing each floor over the musique concrète sounds of a cash register (which basically serves as the only percussion instrument) and a simple musical accompaniment.

A remix of the theme was released in 1996 by a dance act calling itself "Grace Brothers"^[5], and featured samples of John Inman and Frank Thornton.

There is a homage to the theme song in the Ladytron song "Paco!" from the album "604", and New Zealand band Minuit's "I hate guns". A version of the theme song is featured on the album The Ape Of Naples by the experimental music group Coil. The theme song has also been covered by Australian band Regurgitator on their 1999 album ...art. Pop singer Jamelia's song "Window Shopping" (from her 2006 album Walk with Me) begins with a sample of the familiar cash register sound effect as well as Mrs. Slocombe's voice inquiring, "Good morning, Mr Grainger; are you free?".

[edit] Film

In 1977, an Are You Being Served? film was released using the same characters and cast. It was set in the fictional resort of Costa Plonka, in Spain. The film was an adaptation of the very successful stage version of the show, which played at the Winter Gardens Theatre, Blackpool over the summer of 1976.

[edit] Other countries

The series has become very popular in the United States on PBS stations and on BBC America, as well as in many Commonwealth nations around the world. A U.S. adaptation pilot episode called Beane's of Boston aired on 5 May 1979 on CBS, but it didn't make it to a full series. An Australian version, also called Are You Being Served?, ran for sixteen episodes from 1980 to 1981. It starred John Inman as Mr Humphries and June Bronhill as character similar to Mrs Slocume. The store's name was changed to Bone Brothers as Grace Brothers was the name of an actual department store chain in Australia. The show was aired in Canada during the late night on YTV.

[edit] Grace & Favour

In 1992, most of the original cast reunited for a spin-off show called Grace & Favour. This series was called Are You Being Served? Again! in the United States and Canada.

[edit] Merchandise

Seven early episodes were novelised for a book, written by Jeremy Lloyd, called Are You Being Served? - Camping In and other Fiascos. This was written in 1976, and republished in 1997 by KQED Books. The seven episodes featured are Camping In, Up Captain Peacock, Wedding Bells, His and Hers, Coffee Morning, The Hand of Fate and The Clock, and the dialogue from the TV episodes were used.

In 1995, KQED Books published Are You Being Served - The Inside Story by Adrian Rigelsford, Anthony Brown, and Geoff Tibbalis, with a foreword by Jeremy Lloyd, and sub-titled: "The Inside Story of Britain's Funniest - and Public Television's Favorite - Comedy Series". In 212 pages, the book's six chapters cover: The Cast of Characters, Behind the Scenes, The Episodes, The Spin-offs, Trivia Quiz, and Glossary. ISBN: 0-912333-04-9.

In 1999, I'm Free! The Complete Are You Being Served?, a guide to the series, was published by Orion Books. It was written by Richard Webber, with contributions from David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd.

A board game was also produced in the 1970s. Players moved round a board resembling the shop floor to purchase one item from each of the four counters and leave the store, before their opponents and without going over budget.

[edit] DVD releases

Series One to Eight, including the pilot episode and all five Christmas specials from those years, are available on DVD in the UK (Region 2). Are You Being Served: the Movie was released in 2002. Series Nine and Ten are expected to be released by 2012.

All ten series, as well as both series of Grace & Favour (in packaging titled Are You Being Served? Again!) and the film are available on DVD in Region 1 (North America).

All ten series, as well as both series of Grace & Favour (in correctly-titled packaging) and the film have been released in Australia (Region 4).

A DVD titled Are You Being Served? - Best of The Early Years and Are You Being Served? Christmas Specials have also been released.

[edit] See also

• List of films based on British sitcoms

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Are You Being Served? at BBC Online
• Are You Being Served? at the British Film Institute
• Are You Being Served? at the BFI's Screenonline
• Are You Being Served? at the Internet Movie Database