A British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, the show follows the misadventures and mishaps of the staff of the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments in the flagship department store of a fictional chain called Grace Brothers.
The series was broadcast on the BBC for ten seasons, totalling 69 episodes between 8 September 1972 and 1 April 1985 – and included five Christmas specials. There was also a 1977 film, a spin-off series Grace & Favour with some of the same main cast in 1991–1992, and a one-off episode with a new cast in 2016. Since its original release, all 69 episodes, the restored pilot, the Christmas specials, the sequel and the film have been released on DVD.
Are You Being Served? was a great success in the UK. The series was also popular in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland, and was successfully aired in The Netherlands and Belgium with Dutch subtitles. The show was also popular in Israel and in the United States, where it gained a loyal and enthusiastic following when PBS television stations began airing reruns of it in the mid-1980s, along with other British sitcoms. In 2004, it was ranked 20th in a television countdown of Britain's Best Sitcom.
Starring-
Mollie Sugden
Trevor Bannister
Frank Thornton
John Inman
Wendy Richard
Arthur Brough
Nicholas Smith
Larry Martyn
Harold Bennett
Arthur English
James Hayter
Penny Irving
Vivienne Johnson
Alfie Bass
Mike Berry
Kenneth Waller
Candy Davis
Moira Foot
Benny Lee
Milo Sperber
Theme music - Ronnie Hazlehurst
Seasons 1, 8, 9 & 10 are blocked from youtube in Australia, so here are those seasons on dailymotion-
Season 1 -
https://www.dailymotion.com/library/playlist/x77iec
Season 8 -
https://www.dailymotion.com/library/playlist/x77ief
Season 9 -
https://www.dailymotion.com/library/playlist/x77iep
Season 10 -
https://www.dailymotion.com/library/playlist/x77iev
Here is also the movie, it was released after Season 5 -
https://www.dailymotion.com/library/playlist/x77if5
The idea of a spin-off was suggested by the cast of Are You Being Served? almost immediately after the original series ended in 1985. Lloyd and Croft liked the idea, but agreed that the department store format was exhausted and that any spin-off would require a change of location. Despite the enthusiasm of the original cast, it was almost seven years before Lloyd and Croft brought them back to television.
The plot line that brought the cast from the store to the manor was considered remarkably topical, since it aired just a few months after the death of British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, who was revealed to have borrowed heavily against his own employees' pensions.
Grace & Favour is different from Are You Being Served? in that it involves a continuous story arc, with certain plot elements, such as the relationship between Mr Humphries and Mavis Moulterd, unfolding throughout each episode. This in turn allowed the series to involve more complex storylines and subplots, making it possible to include returning guest stars and location shooting, neither of which was ever done on Are You Being Served?
The title of the series is a double play on words. A "grace and favour" is a home or other property owned by a monarch but given to the use of a faithful retainer upon retirement, as with the retired characters in this series. Grace is also the surname of the owner of Grace Brothers, the fictional department store where the characters previously worked and was also the previous owner of Millstone Manor.
Are You Being Served? cast member Trevor Bannister (Mr Lucas) chose not to return. Arthur English (Mr Harman) was also not brought back due to his retirement. Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms) took time off from filming EastEnders to film Grace & Favour. Also returning to their roles were John Inman (Mr Humphries), Mollie Sugden (Mrs Slocombe), Frank Thornton (Captain Peacock) and Nicholas Smith (Mr Rumbold). These were the same five actors to have appeared in every episode of Are You Being Served?
