History Series / AreYouBeingServed

* SpotlightStealingSquad: When the programme began, Mr. Humphries (John Inman) was a prominent secondary character supporting Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister). By the time Trevor Bannister left the series, Mr. Humphries had become the lead, with Mr. Lucas supporting him. The credits were altered to reflect this, with Trevor Bannister often getting fourth billing during his final year in the cast. As Mr. Humphries got an increasing share of the laughs, the senior salesmen were also pushed to the margins. By the 8th series, they only speak a couple of times per episode; the following season, the role was eliminated. This was taken up to eleven in the Australian remake of the series, also starring John Inman. It used RecycledScripts, but altered them so that Mr. Humphries got the maximum possible number of laugh lines, and was almost always the focus, even if this required him to act noticeably out of character. Most of the scripts came from early seasons that usually had Mr. Lucas bumbling or stirring up trouble; two things perennial apple-polisher Humphries was unlikely to do.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Numerous characters disappear without explanation or acknowledgement, most notably Mr. Lucas and Mr. Grainger. Other characters who succumb to the syndrome include Mr. Mash, Mr. Goldberg, Mr. Grossman, and Mr. Klein, as well as numerous recurring secretaries and staff of Mr. Rumbold and both Grace brothers.

** The ladies' department was "Ladies' Intimate Apparel" - in other words, lingerie. The department gradually evolved to sell ladies' wear of all kinds.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: When the programme began, Mr. Humphries (John Inman) was a prominent secondary character supporting Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister). By the time Trevor Bannister left the series, Mr. Humphries had become the lead, with Mr. Lucas supporting him. The credits were altered to reflect this, with Trevor Bannister often getting fourth billing during his final year in the cast. As Mr. Humphries got an increasing share of the laughs, the senior salesmen were also pushed to the margins. By the 8th series, they only speak a couple of times per episode; the following season, the role was eliminated. This was taken UpToEleven in the Australian remake of the series, also starring John Inman. It used RecycledScripts, but altered them so that Mr. Humphries got the maximum possible number of laugh lines, and was almost always the focus, even if this required him to act noticeably out of character. Most of the scripts came from early seasons that usually had Mr. Lucas bumbling or stirring up trouble; two things perennial apple-polisher Humphries was unlikely to do.

* Mr. Humphries, associate (later senior) assistant on the Men's counter. Ambiguously CampGay: the general confusion about his sexual orientation made up much of the show's jokes. Among his perennial gags was the substitution of a deep baritone for his usual effeminate voice when answering the telephone.

* Mr. Grainger, the elderly, cantankerous senior assistant in menswear. He was later replaced by the progressively younger and less cantankerous Mr. Tebbs, then Mr. Goldberg, then Mr. Grossman, and finally Mr. Klein. For the final few seasons, this role was removed, reducing the core cast to a FiveManBand.

* ManInAKilt: In "Camping In", Mr. Lucas deals with a Scottish customer who is predictably wearing a kilt and informs him that in Scotland, they measure the inside leg from the outside.

* PantyShot: Shirley Brahms at one point, wearing her dark brown, knee-length, split-skirt, as part of one of her uniforms. Light blue panties are seen underneath with her legs are uncrossed at one point and another when she's trying to get off of some furniture in one episode.
** Miss Belfridge's white panties are displayed when her pink dress gets drafty from an electric fan in a separate episode ("Monkey Business").
** Ms. Brahms had three windblown skirt moments in another episode. See MarilynManeuver for more info.
* PetHomosexual Mr. Humphries.

US viewers know this show from its near-universal syndication on public television stations. In ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': ''Film/OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'', while running a fake public TV pledge drive as a moneymaking scam, Pearl Forrester identifies footage of Mike and the Bots as a clip from ''Are You Being Served?''

->"And I am unanimous in that!"

* {{Oktoberfest}}: During German Week the store staff is forced to wear lederhosen. Two of the cast get [[WhoWearsShortShorts very small, form fitting versions]]: [[FanService Miss Brahms]] and [[FanDisservice Mr Humphries]].

* SpotOfTea: Almost every episode had some sort of reference to tea-- Tea breaks, putting the kettle on, tea at meetings, and even a tea trolley at one point.

* AbsenteeActor: After Harold Bennett (Young Mr Grace) had died and Kenneth Waller's replacement Old Mr Grace had proved unacceptable, the writers decided to move the character permanently off-screen. The character was still around and at Grace Brothers, issuing orders via telephone or memo, but he was never seen nor heard.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: On "Monkey Business", the MischiefMakingMonkey becomes an AccidentalHero.

* PhonyVeteran: Captain Peacock. He may well have served in North Africa during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the War]], but one doubts he saw much action in the Royal Army Service Corps.[[note]] That's the logistics branch of the Army, for those unacquainted.[[/note]]

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Arthur Brough, who played senior salesman Mr. Grainger, died in 1978 while preparations were being made for the sixth series (though he had announced his retirement from acting following his wife's death two months before, Lloyd and Croft were hoping to persuade him to return). He was replaced without explanation in-series by the character of Mr. Tebbs. Contrary to popular perception, Brough was the only actor who died before his character was written out of the series. Harold Bennett (Young Mr. Grace) retired due to ill health and died in 1981 after filming a few scenes for Series 8, but the character remained alive until just before the first episode of ''Grace and Favour'' nearly ten years later. Meanwhile, James Hayter (Mr. Tebbs), Alfie Bass (Mr. Goldberg), Milo Sperber (Mr. Grossman), and Benny Lee (Mr. Klein) all lived for at least five more years following their various departures from the series.

* DyeHard: It can be strange to see Mollie Sugden in interviews with her normal brown (or grey) hair. (The latter is a bit easier for those who have watched ''Grace and Favour/Are You Being Served Again'').

* FakingAmnesia: Used by Mrs. Slocombe in a later episode when she pretended to have forgotten everything since early childhood and spent the majority of the episode acting like a schoolgirl. The ordeal was a ploy to scare the management with a possible lawsuit.

* FunWithForeignLanguages: In "German Week", the German Band arrives, and a character says something to them in German, and they respond in English. In Germany and other European countries with a large proportion of people who speak English as a second language, it's common for tourists attempting to speak the local language to receive a reply in English. The guidebooks specifically warn people not to be disheartened by this and that the attempt is always appreciated.
** That said, it is unlikely that most English-speaking Germans would answer in a Cockney accent, like the "German" band did.

* TheMovie: A movie was made where the cast take a holiday and hilarity ensues (some of it shamelessly [[RecycledScript recycled from the series]]).

* LadyDrunk: Mrs Slocombe.

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Mrs. Slocombe is "unanimous" in all her opinions.

* {{Fainting}}: Done without the scream on multiple occasions by Mr. Humphries, typically as a silent collapse into the arms of his coworkers.

** Captain (Stephen) Peacock and Mr (Ernest) Grainger would mutually address each other by first name in private conversation - as they had known and worked with each other for many years, and were relatively close in social rank - Peacock was higher in the staff hierarchy but Grainger had seniority, both were war veterans, etc.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The cast and crew had their own CatchPhrase for this: "self-cleaning jokes".

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Mr. Humphries (John Inman) begins as a prominent secondary character supporting Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister). By the time Trevor Bannister left the series, Mr. Humphries had become the lead, with Mr. Lucas supporting him. The credits were altered to reflect this, with Trevor Bannister often getting fourth billing by the time he left the series. As Mr. Humphries got an increasing share of the laughs, the senior salesmen were also pushed to the margins. By the 8th series, they only speak a couple of times per episode; the following season, the role was eliminated. This was taken UpToEleven in the Australian remake of the series, also starring John Inman. It used RecycledScripts, but altered them so that Mr. Humphries got the maximum possible number of laugh lines, and was almost always the focus, even if this required him to act noticeably out of character. Most of the scripts came from early seasons that usually had Mr. Lucas bumbling or stirring up trouble; two things perennial apple-polisher Humphries was unlikely to do.

In parody of the British class system, characters are almost never referred to by their first names, and it is several seasons before we even ''know'' all of them. (Additionally, several first names change over time; this was even shown with Mr. Lucas's profile picture on of the discs in the official Region 1 DVD box set, as "Mr. Dick/James Lucas".)

Long-running Creator/{{BBC}} sitcom created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, following the exploits of the employees of the Ladies' and Gentlemen's ready-to-wear departments of [[IncompetenceInc Grace Brothers]], a London department store, primarily inspired by Simpson’s of Piccadilly at which store Lloyd had briefly worked. The show lasted from September 1972 to April 1985, a total of 69 episodes in ten series.

In classic BritCom tradition, the episodes generally had relatively little in the way of plot. Individual episode storylines were largely a framing device to deliver a rapid-fire series of [[DoubleEntendre double entendres]], typically dealing with the reactions (or [[LawOfDisproportionateResponse over-reactions]]) of the staff to the latest management scheme, or tension between the Ladies' and Gentlemen's departments. Almost every episode in later seasons ended with the characters dressing up in silly outfits. The show rarely strayed beyond the department floor, and almost never left the confines of the store itself. A one-off revival with an all new cast was broadcast in August 2016.

In parody of the British class system, characters are almost never referred to by their first names, and it is several seasons before we even ''know'' all of them. (Additionally, several first names change over time.)

Spawned a feature film, an Australian remake, and a short-lived {{revival}}, ''Grace & Favour'', which reunited most of the cast as the keepers of a country inn (as the final management scheme before the store went under was to sink their pension fund into it). A number of the show's stars suspect that the viewing public did not realize that ''Grace & Favour'' was meant to be a {{revival}}, and therefore did not give it a chance. This is somewhat borne out by the fact that the show had more success in the US, where it was aired under the title ''Are You Being Served? Again!''

** One of the {{Standard Snippet}}s featured in “The Ballet of the Toys” is “Teddy Bear Picnic”, a song featured on the same album on which star John Inman sang the title theme (which would later be used for the Australian version of the show).

* DontMakeMeTakeMyBeltOff: On ''Grace and Favour,'' Mavis often says that her father will "give her the strap" if she gets caught doing something.

* DoubleEntendre: Put simply, the show lives and breathes ''double entendre'', most notoriously those involving Mrs. Slocombe's pussy[[note]]cat[[/note]].

* DraggedIntoDrag: Guess who falls victim to this to compete in Grace Brothers'"Holiday Girl Outfit" contest in "Front Page News"?

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Mr. Humphries (John Inman) begins as a prominent secondary character supporting Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister). By the time Trevor Bannister left the series, Mr. Humphries had become the lead, with Mr. Lucas supporting him. The credits were altered to reflect this, with Trevor Bannister often getting fourth billing by the time he left the series. As Mr. Humphries got an increasing share of the laughs, the senior salesmen were also pushed to the margins. By the 8th series, they only speak a couple of times per episode; the following season, the role was eliminated. This was taken UpToEleven in the Australian remake of the series, also starring John Inman. It used RecycledScripts, but altered them so that Mr. Humphries was almost always the focus, even if this required him to act noticeably out of character. Most of the scripts came from early seasons that usually had Mr. Lucas bumbling or stirring up trouble; two things perennial apple-polisher Humphries was unlikely to do.