Are You Being Served?

This quintessentially British sitcom is about Grace Brothers, a department store in London which is owned and kept traditional, almost pre-war (e.g. precise dress code for ladies frills and gentlemen's hats according to rank), by two brothers who look old enough to have fought in the Boer war but rarely appear, as most scenes play on one floor where Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold is the executive (meaning he enjoys an endless parade of foxy but stupid secretaries) in charge of management while his dignified floor walker, Captain Stephen Peacock, has daily charge over two small sales teams. The fat and bossy, implicitly man-hungry widow Mrs. Betty Slocombe supervises the attractive Miss Shirley Brahms (with a terribly common Cockney accent) -with first choice of customers, on commission- the sale of women's clothes and accessories; the sales star at the gentleman's side is Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humpries, an implied closet-gay true gentleman, whose successive superiors are first obviously nearly retired Mr. Ernest Grainger and later formerly independent Mr. Grosman while the successive cheeky juniors are Mr. Dick Lucas and Mr. Bert Spooner. A regular visitor, and the only manual laborer but apparently best paid, is union representative Mr. Mash. Their interaction with each-other and the customers is quite formal in principle, but turns out comical in practice.

Cast

• Frank Thornton
• Nicholas Smith
• Harold Bennett
• Mollie Sugden
• Wendy Richard
• John Inman
• Arthur Brough
• Arthur English
• Mike Berry
• Trevor Bannister
• Larry Martyn
• Vivienne Johnson
• Penny Irving
• Freddie Wiles
• Candy Davis
• Alfie Bass

• Season 1
• Episode 1: Dear Sexy Knickers...
  Mrs. Slocombe: Are you free, Mr. Lucas?::Mr. Dick Lucas: [looks about him] Yes, I'm afraid I am, Mrs...
• Episode 2: Our Figures Are Slipping
  Mrs. Slocombe: Before we go any further, Mr. Rumbold, Miss Brahms and I would like to complain about...
• Episode 3: Camping In
  Mrs. Slocombe: In fact, that's how I met my husband, during an air raid. The bombs were raining down...
• Episode 4: His and Her's
  [Mr. Lucas is interrupting a salesgirl's tape-recorded sales pitch with a radio]::Female voice on ta...
• Episode 5: Diamonds Are a Man's Best Friend
  Mr. Ernest Grainger: Captain Peacock, are you free?::Captain Stephen Peacock: Yes I'm free, Mr. Grai...
• Episode : Pilot
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: [Mr. Lucas has gone to get a mannequin head for Mrs. Slocombe] Oh, and hurry up...
• Season 2
• Episode 1: The Clock
  [Captain Peacock is reading the list of possible entrees for Mr. Grainger's anniversary dinner and v...
• Episode 2: Cold Comfort
  Captain Peacock: Good morning Mrs Slocombe, Miss Brahms. You're one minute late.::Mrs. Slocombe: You...
• Episode 3: The Think Tank
  [first lines]::Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold: Morning ladies....
• Episode 4: Big Brother
  Mrs. Slocombe: Oh, Captain Peacock. I wonder if you'd run an eye over my chits? I keep totting them ...
• Episode 5: Hoorah for the Holidays
  Mrs. Slocombe: [the staff have each been offered five pounds to cover the cost of having to take the...
• Season 3
• Episode 1: The Hand of Fate
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: [to Mr. Grainger, Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms and Mr. Lucas] Y'know, animals are...
• Episode 2: Coffee Morning
  Captain Peacock complains when he notices the staff are taking leisurely coffee breaks. After his co...
• Episode 3: Up Captain Peacock
  Captain Stephen Peacock: Mr. Humphries, are you free?::Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries: I'm just...
• Episode 4: Cold Store
  Miss Brahms: Where's 'A' for 'Ankerchief?::Mr. Humphries: Under 'H' for Habedashary...
• Episode 5: Wedding Bells
  Dispute reins in the department as Mrs.Slocomb refuses to sell a new line of underwear. Her complain...
• Episode 6: German Week
  Mr. Grainger: I can't wait more than ten minutes because I'm having a bath tonight::Mr. Humphries: O...
• Episode 7: Shoulder to Shoulder
  Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold: Oh, Miss Thorpe, where's the maintenance file?::Miss Thorpe: You mean the one ...
• Episode 8: New Look
  Miss Brahms: And we could have those lovely big potted plants - you know, the ones with the big leav...
• Episode 9: Christmas Crackers
  Mrs. Slocombe: I hope we're not going to be late tonight. I've left Winston clinging to the curtain ...
• Season 4
• Episode 1: No Sale
  Captain Peacock: To your places, everybody. Mrs. Slocombe, uncover your bust, please.::Mrs. Slocombe...
• Episode 2: Top Hat and Tails
  Mr. Rumbold: Dancing so well and playing the piano as you do, I'm quite surprised to find you workin...
• Episode 3: Forward Mr. Grainger
  Mr. Grainger: [smoking an expensive cigar] Do you smoke?::Captain Peacock: Yes, indeed!::Mr. Grainge...
• Episode 4: Fire Practice
  Mrs. Slocombe: [a female dummy has been brought in from the fire station so that the staff can pract...
• Episode 5: Fifty Years On
  Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries: I ask Mother how old she is and she tells me "as old as my nose...
• Episode 6: Oh What a Tangled Web
  Mr. Ernest Grainger: I do hope he hasn't gone off the rails. I did myself, you know, when I was in B...
• Episode 7: The Father Christmas Affair
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: [a faulty Father Christmas mechanical display has just opened his arms, reveali...
• Season 5
• Episode 1: Mrs. Slocombe Expects
  Captain Peacock: [ordering Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas to get dressed and pretend to be customers] O...
• Episode 2: A Change Is as Good as a Rest
  Captain Peacock: In this area we have the mechanical cuddlies::Mrs. Slocombe: But they're all dogs. ...
• Episode 3: Founder's Day
  Secretary: Ow! Was that your hand, Mr. Grace?::Young Mr. Grace: Doing what?::Secretary: Pinching my ...
• Episode 4: The Old Order Changes
  Mr. Grainger: Good morning, Mrs. Slocombe.::Mrs. Slocombe: Drop dead....
• Episode 5: Take-Over
• Episode 5: Take-over
  Mr. James: [laughing at Mr. Grainger's toupee] Your name, sir?::Mr. Ernest Grainger: Pardon?::Mr. Ja...
• Episode 6: Goodbye Mr. Grainger
  Mrs. Slocombe: There you are, madam: I hope the garment gives every satisfaction::Corset Customer: A...
• Episode 7: It Pays to Advertise
  [a dummy of Mrs. Slocombe is wheeled onto the floor]::Mr. Grainger: Your hair looks very nice today,...
• Season 6
• Episode 1: By Appointment
  Mr. Harman's transistor radio, featured during the end credit for 'Radio Voice', is a Philips 90AL07...
• Episode 2: The Club
  Mr. Percival Tebbs: No one was allowed into the Club without his tie.::Miss Brahms: But girls don't ...
• Episode 3: Do You Take This Man?
  This episode does not end with the usual "Are You Being Served?" signature tune, but with the notes ...
• Episode 4: Shedding the Load
  When Mr. Tebbs appears on the shop floor wearing a wig, Mr. Humphries jokes that if he "trimmed his ...
• Episode 5: A Bliss Girl
  Mr. Grainger: Do you mean that we're going to sell scent?::Mr. Rumbold: Yes, you could put it like t...
• Episode 6: Happy Returns
  Captain Peacock: [at a dress rehearsal for a children's play] Why has Little Boy Blue got a plastic ...
• Season 7
• Episode 1: The Junior
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: I've got to get home: if my pussy isn't attended to by eight o'clock, I shall b...
• Episode 2: Strong Stuff This Insurance
  Mr.Grace has offered the staff of Grace Brothers a pension plan in which they will all receive a sum...
• Episode 3: The Apartment
  [cat hisses]::Mrs. Slocombe: Mr. Humphries, leave my pussy alone....
• Episode 4: Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: [substituting for Mr. Rumbold, picking out sanitary goods for the executive bat...
• Episode 5: The Hero
  After Mr.Franco of the sports department reveals an embarrassing secret about Captain Peacock, the s...
• Episode 6: Anything You Can Do
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: I just do simple cooking to my own taste. But you'll never see a dirty plate in...
• Episode 7: The Agent
  Because of the poor wages at Grace Brothers, Mr.Goldberg has started an employment agency and is hel...
• Episode 8: The Punch and Judy Affair
  Captain Stephen Peacock: [discussing Mrs Slocombe as a policeman in the play] I think that Mrs Sloco...
• Season 8
• Episode 1: Is It Catching?
  There're some new changes happening at Grace Brothers. The first floor has a new junior, Mr.Spooner,...
• Episode 2: A Personal Problem
  All is not well in the Peacock household; jealousy is brewing around the activities of Captain Peaco...
• Episode 3: Front Page Story
  Captain Peacock: [Mrs. Slocombe, dressed in a black basque, has entered the store beauty contest, fo...
• Episode 4: Sit Out
  Old Mr. Grace's secretary: Mr. Grace, here's a new applicant for your secretary.::Old Mr. Grace: Tha...
• Episode 5: Heir Apparent
  Mrs. Betty Slocombe: I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you look far too young to be Mr Humphri...
• Episode 6: Closed Circuit
  Mrs. Slocombe: [on the phone] Hello, is that Mr. Akbar? Mrs Slocombe here, your next-door neighbour....
• Episode 7: The Erotic Dreams of Mrs Slocombe
  Mrs. Slocombe: [staggers sideways into the office, obviously very drunk] I hope you're not under the...
• Episode 8: Roots?
  Old Mr. Grace: How long have you been frightened of the dark, my dear?::Miss Virginia Edwards: Ever ...
• Season 9
• Episode 1: The Sweet Smell of Success
  Grace Brothers are trying to cut down on costs, which means nobody is allowed to use the lifts outsi...
• Episode 2: Conduct Unbecoming
  Miss Belfridge: [kissing Mr Humphries on the cheek] I was always on your side!::Mr. Wilberforce Clay...
• Episode 3: Memories Are Made of This
  To promote sporting equipment on their floor, the ladies and gents department are temporarily sharin...
• Episode 4: Calling All Customers
  Mrs. Slocombe: On the mantelpiece in my parlour I've got a whole row of silver cups.::C.B. Voice: Oh...
• Episode 5: Monkey Business
  When the staff are denied their promised rise in wages they refuse to work and are rude to customers...
• Episode 6: Lost and Found
  UK:27 May 1983...
• Season 10
• Episode 1: Goodbye Mrs. Slocombe
  Although screened first in the tenth and final series, this episode was the last to be recorded....
• Episode 1: Goodbye, Mrs. Slocombe
• Episode 2: Grounds for Divorce
  There's trouble in the Peacock home. Captain Peacock has changed over the years and has fallen for a...
• Episode 3: The Hold Up
  While the staff stay late at the store stocktaking, two burglars break into the store and capture Mi...
• Episode 3: The Hold-Up
• Episode 4: Gambling Fever
  Mr. Beverley Harman: [Mr. Harman and Mrs. Slocombe are spying on the rest of the staff with a new se...
• Episode 5: The Night Club
  Miss Belfridge: [Champagne is being poured] This stuff goes straight to my head.::Mrs. Slocombe: Oh,...
• Episode 6: Friends and Neighbours
  Captain Peacock: [after suggesting sharing a flat on the top floor of Grace Brothers with Miss Belfr...
• Episode 7: The Pop Star
  In this final episode of 'Are You Being Served?' it appears as though Mr.Spooner will be sacked. But...

Are You Being Served?

When Mr. Humphries takes over as head of the mens-wear department at Bone Brothers in Australia, his character and experiences remain exactly the same as it was behind the counter in Grace Brothers in England.

Cast

• John Inman
• June Bronhill
• Reg Gillam
• Basil Clarke
• Tony Bazell
• Shane Bourne
• Reg Evans
• Kerry Daniel
• Ken Fraser
• Christine Amor
• Judith Woodroffe
• Peter Collingwood
• Tracey Kelly
• Elizabeth Stevenson
• Fred Phillips
• Bernadette Gibson
• Peter Bakos
• Chris Peters
• Sherryl Peters
• Abigail
• Roy Baldwin

• Season 1
• Episode 1: Get Fit Down Under, Mr Humphries
  Channel 10 Studios, Nunawading, Victoria, Australia...
• Episode 2: The Hero
  Australia:1980...
• Episode 3: Mrs Crawford, Senior Person
  Australia:30 June 1980...
• Episode 4: The Agent
  Australia:7 July 1980...
• Episode 5: The Apartment
  Australia:14 July 1980...
• Episode 6: The Junior
  Australia:21 July 1980...
• Episode 7: Punch and Judy
  Australia:28 July 1980...
• Episode 8: Anything You Can Do
  Australia:4 August 1980...
• Season 2
• Episode 1: Dear Sexy Knickers
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 2: Camping In
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 3: Your Figures Are Slipping
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 4: Heir Apparent
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 5: Front Page Story
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 6: Undesirable Alien
  The only episode in the Australian run not based on an original script from the parent BBC series....
• Episode 7: Diamonds Are a Man's Best Friend
  Australia:1981...
• Episode 8: His and Hers
  Australia:1981...

Are We Being Served?

Cast

• Julia Bradbury
• Arkin Salih

• Season 1
• Episode 1: Shopping
  UK:19 July 2006...
• Episode 2: Restaurants
  UK:26 July 2006...
• Episode 3: Trains
  UK:2 August 2006...
• Episode 4: Banks
  UK:8 August 2006...
• Episode 5: New Homes
  UK:23 August 2006...
• Episode 6: Garages
  UK:30 August 2006...

• Lyrics: play full screen play karaoke
• Are You - Bob Seger
• Are You - Jon Anderson

I see it in your convoluted daydreams
These never ending quests we're always on
I can't believe the things we give importance to
These foolish goals we set ourselves upon
Are you gonna make this easy
Are you gonna make this rough
This world gonna make you crazy
If you never have enough
Most of what we want is just illusion
Most of what we buy won't change a thing
Most of what we're told is misdirection
Offered up to ease our suffering
Are you gonna see the wisdom
Are you gonna call this bluff
This world's gonna run you over
If you never have enough
This is a whole new thing almost like a new religion
The liights are always on the doors are never locked
We ride in on the light the shelves are overstocked
Everybody's got their own connection
Everybody's hoping they can score
Everybody's looking for perfection
Everybody wants a little more
Are you gonna be addicted
Are you gonna give it up
This world's gonna drive you under

Are you gonna be with me tonight?
Are you gonna be my love tonight?
Are you gonna give your love tonight?
Are you gonna be with me tonight?
You're so sweet, you're so love
You're so good, you're so right
You're so sweet, you're so love
You're so good, you're so right
Are you gonna be with me tonight?
Are you gonna be my love tonight?
Are you gonna give your love tonight?
Are you gonna be with me tonight?
Dance so sweet, dance your love
Dance so good, dance so right
Dance so sweet,dance so good
Dance your love, dance so right
Are you gonna be with me tonight?
Are you gonna be my love tonight?
Are you gonna give your love tonight?
Are you gonna be with me tonight?
You're so sweet, you're so love
You're so good, you're so right
You're so sweet, you're so love
You're so good, you're so right
Come with me tonight
Come with me tonight
Hold me closer
Come with me tonight
Hold me tightly
You look so good, dance so sweet
You're looking so good, dance your love
You look so sweet, dance so good
I love you so, dance so right
You look so good, you're so sweet
You dance so real, you're so love
Come hold me tight, you're so good