History Series / AreYouBeingServed

* Young Mr. Grace (Creator/HaroldBennett), the ancient owner of the store. DirtyOldMan, but generally a pleasant, if easily confused boss. Though described as "young", he is well over 80: the query, "That's ''Young'' Mr. Grace?!" elicits the response, "Old Mr. Grace doesn't get around much any more." Young Mr. Grace was replaced for a series by Old Mr. Grace (Kenneth Waller), an obviously younger actor under gobs of makeup; the character proved to be unpopular and was written out after one series, with the writers opting instead for [[TheGhost an unseen]] Mr. Grace.

** Earlier in the same episode, Young Mr. Grace's nurse (Vivienne Johnson) bends over at one point in front of him and he dress rides up, flashing her white panties and that sends his heart racing (and his pacemaker sounding off).

** In another moment in the same episode, Miss Bakewell (Penny Irving), lifts her skirt for Young Mr. Grace, presuming he wanted her to flash him.

In classic BritCom tradition, the episodes generally had relatively little in the way of plot. Individual episode storylines were largely set up to provide an excuse for the characters to deliver a rapid-fire succession of {{double entendre}}s, typically dealing with the reactions (or [[LawOfDisproportionateResponse over-reactions]]) of the staff to the latest management scheme, or the 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.

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 {{double entendre}}s, 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.

* LastNameBasis: Sometimes a well meaning person tries to change this, and it only makes everyone visibly uncomfortable.

Came twentieth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AreYouBeingServed.JPG]]

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.

* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: In "By Appointment," Mrs. Slocombe talkes about how much she didn't enjoy her vacation in Spain because of that reputation the Spanish have for groping women.

Came twentieth in ''Series/Britain'sBestSitcom''.

Came twentieth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.

* Captain Peacock (Creator/FrankThornton), the floorwalker. Due to his (somewhat exaggerated) military background (he served in the RASC, Royal Army Service Corps) and higher position, he considers himself above the assistants and flaunts his greater social standing. Constantly in trouble with his wife for supposed improprieties, although it is not clear whether he ever actually crossed the line into outright infidelity. [[note]] WordOfGod - confirmed to be an incorrigible flirt outside of work, but is horrified at idea of himself actually''cheating''

* Mr. Mash (Creator/LarryMartyn) - later Mr. Harman (Creator/ArthurEnglish) - maintenance personnel used to make jokes about the class system (for example, though they are "dead common" and considered social pariahs by the staff, the maintenance staff is, thanks to their union, better paid than the sales staff). Mr. Harman could be a DeadPanSnarker when the situation called for it, [[SixthRanger but he could usually be counted on to help the Grace Brothers' staff out of that week's predicament.]]

** Any visit from Young Mr Grace will conclude with him waving his walking stick (as his valet, Godard - or his nurse in later series - tries to keep him from falling over) and exclaiming, "You've all done very well!" To which the staff unenthusiastically mutter, "Thank you, Mr Grace," while bowing.

* DirtyOldMan: Old Mr. Grace, he always keeps young secretaries and nurses around, and there are rumors of his affairs with them. In fact, his [[spoiler: death]] comes from being on holiday with one of them when her top comes undone in a scuba-diving accident.

** The ladies' department was "Ladies' Intimate Apparel" - in other words, lingerie. The department gradually evolved to sell ladies' wear of all kinds. The last one is possibly justified when one remembers that the pilot of the AfterShow mentions that they were the only departments left when the store closed; presumably the ladies' wear departments were consolidated over time to cut costs.

** 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. Subverted when Captain Peacock would (typically unwittingly) offend Mr Grainger; his warm address of "Stephen" would give way to an angrily sputtered "Captain Peacock."
** Mr Lucas consistently referred to Miss Brahms by her first name, Shirley - a sign of his interest in pursuing a closer relationship with her. As she was generally less interested in him than the other way round, she seldom reciprocated.

** In "Mrs. Slocombe Expects", Mr Rumbold says three terrible puns about cats when Mrs Slocombe tells him about the possibility of her kittens being born - he says puns like a 'cat-tastrophe' and a 'pussy-bility'.

* InsistentTerminology: ''Captain'' Peacock insists on being referred to by his military rank. This is a reference to the tradition of retired senior officers in the (real) British Army continuing to use their titles in civilian life. However, it is only proper to do this if you have reached the rank of ''Major''[[note]]The RealLife person on whom Captain Peacock was based, for example, who was a ''director'' - not a floorwalker - called Major Huskisson; consider also "The Major" from ''Series/FawltyTowers'' or ''another'' "Major" from ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances''[[/note]] - which is one above Peacock's rank of Captain. This is another sign that his military service career is not what it seems to be. A ''real'' British Army Captain wouldn't ''dare'' try getting away with using his title in civilian life.
** If he were a British ''Navy'' Captain, it would be quite proper.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Only Mr. Humphries gets permanently promoted to Senior Sales Assistant. And even this was only implied by there no longer being anyone above him - per Creator/JohnInman's request (as the rapid succession of actors who played Seniors after the death of Creator/ArthurBrough had made him superstitious about the position) this was never explicitly acknowledged.

* NobodyPoops: Completely averted. Frequently, customers asked - usually Captain Peacock - for the restroom. Then there was an episode when Mr Grainger's PottyEmergency was a subplot.

** Played straight in "The Clock," where Mr. Grainger is terrified of receiving a cuckoo clock - the standard gift for retirees at Grace Brothers.

* StealingFromTheTill: Mr. Humphries is accused of doing this in "Conduct Unbecoming" and asked to resign. [[spoiler: Fortunately, AlmightyJanitor Mr Harman finds that the till is faulty, and the missing pound notes were actually jammed into the back.]]

* ThatSyncingFeeling: In the last episode, "The Pop Star," Mr Spooner gets discovered and is off to become a famous singer. In his first TV appearance he sings the song which got him discovered, "Chanson D'Amour." He makes a demo reel-to-reel recording to send to the talent scout. He is booked on a TV show but his voice is getting tired. During the TV performance his voice gives out so they switch to the recording - but the cheap recorder they used and the studio use different speeds, so it comes out sped up to double time.

* JiggleShow: Quickly became one after the addition of Miss Belfridge, leading up to Miss Brahms' performance in the finale.

* Mr. Grainger (Creator/ArthurBrough), the elderly, cantankerous senior assistant in menswear. He was later replaced by the progressively younger and less cantankerous Mr. Tebbs (Creator/JamesHayter), then Mr. Goldberg (Creator/AlfieBass), then Mr. Grossman (Milo Sperber), and finally Mr. Klein (Benny Lee). For the final few seasons, this role was removed, reducing the core cast to a FiveManBand. However, by this point Creator/JohnInman had understandably grown superstitious about the position of senior menswear assistant, and although his character was evidently promoted to replace the last one, he got his wish that this never be explicitly acknowledged onscreen.

* Mrs. Slocombe, senior assistant on the Ladies' counter. She sported exotically colored hair and made constant comments about her cat, which she always called [[RunningGag "her pussy"]]. An evidently artificial posh accent was undercut by a propensity for malapropisms and a tendency to revert back to a working-class Blackpool accent when surprised or angry.
* Mr. Humphries, associate (later ''de facto'' 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. Lucas, junior assistant on the Men's counter. A borderline CasanovaWannabe, often in trouble for minor violations of the store's baroque codes of conduct (for example, his failure to display a properly fluted pocket handkerchief). Mr. Lucas was well-known for being almost predictably late -- he usually attempted to cover it by [[BlatantLies signing false names in the work register]], but this backfired when Captain Peacock dryly pointed out that the majority of the names Mr. Lucas chose were either celebrities, fictional, dead, or a combination thereof. He was later [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute substituted]] in favor of Mr. Spooner, essentially the same character reduced to a secondary role.
* Miss Brahms, the sexy DeadpanSnarker ladieswear junior, noted for her sometimes incomprehensible [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Estuary accent]].
* Captain Peacock, the floorwalker. Due to his (somewhat exaggerated) military background (he served in the RASC, Royal Army Service Corps) and higher position, he considers himself above the assistants and flaunts his greater social standing. Constantly in trouble with his wife for supposed improprieties, although it is not clear whether he ever actually crossed the line into outright infidelity. [[note]] WordOfGod - confirmed to be an incorrigible flirt outside of work, but is horrified at idea of himself actually''cheating''
* 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. However, by this point Creator/JohnInman had understandably grown superstitious about the position of senior menswear assistant, and although his character was evidently promoted to replace the last one, he got his wish that this never be explicitly acknowledged onscreen.

* Mr. Rumbold, the floor manager, often called upon to invent wild explanations for the staff's actions. Called 'Jug Ears' by the staff (and not always behind his back, either), his poor eyesight often lent itself to comical misunderstandings when he was forced to read anything. Verbal explanations also tended to be misunderstood due to him taking things very literally.
* Mr. Mash (later Mr. Harman), maintenance personnel used to make jokes about the class system (for example, though they are "dead common" and considered social pariahs by the staff, the maintenance staff is, thanks to their union, better paid than the sales staff). Mr. Harman could be a DeadPanSnarker when the situation called for it, [[SixthRanger but he could usually be counted on to help the Grace Brothers' staff out of that week's predicament.]]
* Young Mr. Grace, the ancient owner of the store. DirtyOldMan, but generally a pleasant, if easily confused boss. Though described as "young", he is well over 80: the query, "That's ''Young'' Mr. Grace?!" elicits the response, "Old Mr. Grace doesn't get around much any more." Young Mr. Grace was replaced for a series by Old Mr. Grace, an obviously younger actor under gobs of makeup; the character proved to be unpopular and was written out after one series, with the writers opting instead for [[TheGhost an unseen]] Mr. Grace.

* BuxomIsBetter: Miss Brahms. Also, Miss Belfridge later.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Only Mr. Humphries gets permanently promoted to Senior Sales Assistant. And even this was only implied by there no longer being anyone above him - per Creator/JohnInman's request (as the rapid succession of actors who played Seniors after the death of Arthur Brough had made him superstitious about the position) this was never explicitly acknowledged.

* TheGhost: Harold Bennett, who played Young Mr. Grace, died in 1981. Though the writers tried to create a replacement in the form of his brother, Old Mr. Grace, the character proved unpopular and was written out after only one series. For the final two series, the characters would frequently refer to Mr. Grace and call him on the phone, but he was not seen again for the remainder of the show. However, no one ever specifies whether "Young" or "Old" Mr. Grace is the one being referred to.

* PutOnABus: Young Mr. Grace was said to have gone on a sabbatical to write a book when actor Harold Bennett became too infirm to continue in the role. However, he appeared once to say good-bye and made one cameo before Bennett died.

** In "The Hold Up", [[AlmightyJanitor Mr Harman]] comes up with a plan with Mrs Slocombe and Mr Humphries to rescue the others by dressing up as the dreaded Gumby Gang. As Pa Gumby, actor Arthur English as Mr Harman is dressed up as a character he was most famous for doing years prior to the show: a shady "spiv" character, complete with pencil moustache and wide tie.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: According to some accounts, Trevor Bannister, for whom the show was intended as a vehicle, eventually left the show because he felt he was overshadowed by the other actors' and their pantomime/music hall performances. Bannister himself, however, actually denied this and stated that the real reason he left was that he simply felt that the scripts were becoming too repetitive.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: When the programme began, Mr. Humphries (Creator/JohnInman) 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 {{Recycled Script}}s, 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.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Creator/NicholasSmith (Mr. Rumbold) played the part of a middle manager who had served in the Second World War, but he was in reality only five months older than Trevor Bannister (Mr. Lucas), who portrayed a junior who had been at school during the War.

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, Creator/JohnInman, Creator/MollieSugden, Creator/FrankThornton, Creator/WendyRichard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as [[Film/AreYouBeingServed the film version]] which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Nicholas Smith (Mr. Rumbold) played the part of a middle manager who had served in the Second World War, but he was in reality only five months older than Trevor Bannister (Mr. Lucas), who portrayed a junior who had been at school during the War.

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, Creator/JohnInman, Creator/MollieSugden, Creator/FrankThornton, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as [[Film/AreYouBeingServed the film version]] which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, Creator/JohnInman, Creator/MollieSugden, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as [[Film/AreYouBeingServed the film version]] which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* 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. However, by this point John Inman had understandably grown superstitious about the position of senior menswear assistant, and although his character was evidently promoted to replace the last one, he got his wish that this never be explicitly acknowledged onscreen.

** 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).

* AmbiguouslyGay: Mr. Humphries most of the time. As the series progressed, there were increasing suggestions that Mr. Humphries was actually attracted to women...predominantly[[note]]John Inman insisted he played Humphries as CampStraight, but few believed him[[/note]].

'''Mr. Humphries/John Inman:''' ''(winking directly into the camera and not at any of the other actors)'' We're not going to tell you what it is, it's a secret!

* CampStraight: Mr. Humphries may be over-the-top effeminate in his voice and mannerisms, but WordOfGod from John Inman confirms that he is interested in women (mostly).

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Only Mr. Humphries gets permanently promoted to Senior Sales Assistant. And even this was only implied by there no longer being anyone above him - per John Inman's request (as the rapid succession of actors who played Seniors after the death of Arthur Brough had made him superstitious about the position) this was never explicitly acknowledged.

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, John Inman, Creator/MollieSugden, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as [[Film/AreYouBeingServed the film version]] which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* 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 {{Recycled Script}}s, 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.

* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Mr. Humphries' mother is, naturally, John Inman. In one episode, Mr. Humphries dresses up as her so he can fill in for her at her job. Mr. Rumbold also has an identical brother, Mycroft, who appears in one episode in a DoubleVision scene.

* KaleidoscopeHair: Mrs Slocombe wears wigs, but every one is a different color.[[note]] Though only from the second series onward; in the first series, Mollie Sugden had to bleach and dye her hair as there was no budget for wigs.[[/note]]

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as [[Film/AreYouBeingServed the film version]] which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* Captain Peacock, the floorwalker. Due to his (somewhat exaggerated) military background (he served in the RASC, Royal Army Service Corps) and higher position, he considers himself above the assistants and flaunts his greater social standing. Constantly in trouble with his wife for supposed improprieties, although it is not clear whether he ever actually crossed the line into outright infidelity.

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!''.

* TheMovie: A movie was made in 1977 where the cast take a holiday to Spain and hilarity ensues (some of it shamelessly [[RecycledScript recycled from the series]]). It also shamelessly nicked concepts from other British sitcoms of the time, including Andrew Sachs playing a character who's a hybrid of [[Series/FawltyTowers Manuel and Basil Fawlty]].

* ScreenToStageAdaptation: In the summer of 1976, a stage adaptation ran at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Directed by Robert Redfarn, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith reprised their characters while Mr. Lucas, Mr. Grainger, and Mr. Mash were recast. The play had basically the same plot as the film version which would debut the next year, though Young Mr. Grace's role was omitted entirely and Mr. Mash had less to do than Mr. Harman in the film. The play has occasionally been run at other theatres since.

* BlitzEvacuees: Mrs Slocombe continually mentions having been a "Land Girl" during the war. However, she's always very vague about exactly how old she was when it happened. Her experience is elaborated upon (to her repeat embarrassment) when the cast retire to the country in ''Grace And Favour.''