Grace Brothers opened it's doors in 1972 and manning the counter in Ladies Underwear was Mollie Sugden (Mrs. Slocombe) and Wendy Richard.(Miss Brahms) Across the floor in "Men's Wear" were John Inman as Mr. Humphries, Trevor Bannister as Mr. Lucas, and Arthur Brough as the irascible Mr. Grainger. The "floorwalker" was Captain Peacock played to a perfect pitch of the pompous Brit upper class wannabe was played with a David Niven flair for comedy by Frank Thornton. The entire floor was managed by Nicolas Smith as Mr. Rumbold and of course, Grace Brothers was owned by "Young Mr. Grace" who was closer to being a living cadaver than merely a senior citizen.
The whole premise came from one of the writers of the show, Jeremy Lloyd who in the 1950's worked in a clothing store of the times, Simpson's of Piccadilly. Other writers included David Croft, Michael Knowles and John Chapman. This cadre of literate wordsmiths were in the ensemble style of the great American television comedy writers of the Fifties. Buck Henry, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Sid Ceasar, although with that very British edge to it. The show was filled to overflowing with double entendre, political incorrectness and a plethora of English slang and an undercurrent of British Class Warfare that permeates the United Kingdom. This class struggle has manifested itself throughout English literature from H.G. Wells to Pygmalian. Let's face it...they damn country still has a Royal Family useless in all things except for launching ships and irritating the world populace with days on end ad nauseam of Royal Weddings, and God help us all when Princess Di died...you'd think she was a saint, and not just a spoiled brat bimbo with a herd of paparazzi with too much film and time on their hands hounding her literally to death.
Grace Brothers was a tribute to the architecture that reflected a somewhat colonial attitude that permeates the United Kingdom. Ornate elevator doors, and in English parlance, the elevator is referred to as "the lift" that would open and discharge it's cargo of customers to a staid setting of displays and counters in a spacious setting, not the cramped quarters of a Wal-Mart or heaven forbid, Target store. All were greeted by the affable Captain Peacock who maintained an air of dignity that would befit more a member of the House of Lords rather than a department store "floor walker" whose job it was to oversee the floor staff, to give orders from management and to direct incoming customers to the counter of their choice depending on their garment needs.
If Captain Peacock needed a word with one of the floor staff, the inevitable phrase.."Are You Free" would ring out loud and clear. If the person were "free" from customer contact for example, they would answer to the affirmative and rush to Captain Peocock to see what he had to say. Peacock too was the foil for many of the one liners shot at him from every quarter. Mostly these were not so masked verbal bullets aimed at the stale British aristocracy in general as a whole. Peacock just happened to embody it perfectly and totally, so was an easy target. He dressed impeccably with three piece suit, pocketwatch, and a red carnation in his lapel set just above a neat hankerchief folded just so in his upper breast pocket. Good breeding, yes? No, just a suburban who is a quick study of the so-called upper classes.
At Grace Brothers, the bottom feeders in the chain of command were the "junior sales staff. Mr Lucas in Mens, and Miss Brahms in Ladies Underwear. Lucas, played by Trevor Bannister was a rapid fire smart ass hipster who was always trying to "chat up the birds" and usually falling flat on his face for his efforts. He also was the perfect nemesis for Mrs. Slocomb who would constantly be the butt of his ...butt jokes and age insults. He was also constantly in hot water with Captain Peacock who viewed young Mr. Lucas as a delinquent in a suit.
Wendy Richard, or Miss Brahms was the junior in Ladies Underwear who knew how to sell a pair of knickers and sported a healthy set of knockers at the same time, which did not go unnoticed by Mr. Lucas and Captain Peacock, the King Leer of Leering. Miss Brahms was considered "common" with a high pitched Cockney accent that sometimes had the effect of fingernails on a blackboard. Wendy also had a prize winning pair of legs that were usually shown off with short fashionable mini-skirts that allowed ample viewing. These legs were not just works of art..they belonged in the Louvre or in a large ornate church as befits a Holy Vision of a Leggy Virgin Mary for all to worship.
Mr. Grainger played by Arthur Brough, was the titular head of the mens wear church, old school Church of England, colonial values always just below the surface. His distinctive voice was reminiscent of Sir Winston Churchill on downers scored on the docks off the back alleys near the River Thames at night. He had been at Grace Brothers the longest of any of the other cast member characters, and the mens wear dominion dominated the entire floor..until..in an austerity move in a declining economy, he had to relinquish floor space to the ladies underwear department. His "empire" had been reduced by 50%, sales were not soaring as they once had in the "good old days' so bemoaned the fact constantly by telling everyone within earshot.."Ever since the ladies moved in here, my pants are down!"
Across the isle and the line of clothing demarcation was the Ladies Department headed up by Mrs. Slocombe portrayed by the inimitable Mollie Sugden resembled General Patton in attitude with staff and customer alike. The old saying, the customer is always right, was wrong to her way of thinking. Her English was as thick as Gentrified Syrup in her attempt to identify with the upper class customer that she admired, and detested at the same time..love/hate..yin/yang...her exaggerrated accent was used to great comic effect on the show with rolling "R's" and drawn out syllables clearly enunciated, in fact, over enunciated.
She was hard boozin' and man schmoozin' an she lived alone with her cat whose name we were never made privy to, but only referred to as "my pussy" which was alone responsible for the 20 megatons of double entendre that exploded in each episode. For example, if she was late getting home from work and her cat wasn't fed exactly on time, she would say that "Her pussy was absolutely ravenous and there's no teilling what it will eat" or if the cat got out in the rain, "My pussy was soaking wet last night and I had to let it drip dry"
It wasn't only Mrs. Slocombe's pussy that ran wild with a cat scratch fever of innuendo. John Inman slipped in the character of Mr. Humphries was blatantly effeminate in a sophisticated flaming way that he made Monte Rock the III look like John Wayne. Mincing with that oh so Mr. Humphries gait combined with is high pitched bitch voice, was classic UK gay, while American television often only eluded to homosexuality because of America's Puritanical prudishness and homophobic fear of gay and lesbians, Are You Being Served, dished it out in heaping helpings to hetero's and homo's alike.
He was the most delightful character who played his role to the hilt with a sexy swagger and unabashed uninhibited bravado. Impeccably dressed at all times, he was the dandy of the mens wear department. His voice was comically lilting and innuendo once again poured forth as thick and fast as a storm in the North Sea. However it attained the depth of a well when answering the phone in the department..deep, gravely voice would pick up the receiver announcing.."Mens Wear" as though a macho grizzly bear had just answered the call of the wild.
Mr. Humphries got along with everybody on the staff, and women, customers and staff alike gravitated to him as a strange sexual attraction acted as gravity to pull the same, and the opposite sex into his orbit. He was also the most "show business" of the characters and it was he planned and directed the many show tune song and dance numbers the ensemble was famous for with top hats and canes, to dressing as fairy tale characters and even as a human Punch and Judy show. Now matter what the others wore, Mr. Humphries would make his grand entrance in dazzling costumes with tight fitting crotch and bulge pants with sequins and adornments, outrageous hats and ballet slippers. The costumes alone would have Liberace jacking off on his piano seat in orgasmic jealousy while Ru Paul would have to concede her title as fashion maven.
Every ship needs it's captain whether it's the Good Ship Lollipop or Grace Brother's flagship department store. The captain of the mens and ladies wear floor was an odd character that was the verbal and visual target of jokes and behind the back insults by his staff. Mr. Rumbold! An imposing large fellow, his commanding persona was only dampened by his hard boiled egg shaped bald head, and protruding ears that were elephanitine in appearance that created a resemblance to a well known Disney character.
Mr Rumbolds unenviable mission was to keep the sales floor running efficiently and productively, but spent most of his time dousing the interdepartmental fires that ignited when the various ego's and personalities on the sales floor would clash. Known affectionately as "Jug Ears" Mr. Rumbold had his work cut out for him as he had to answer to Young Mr. Grace who was not quite with it most of the time.
Young Mr. Grace, whose character was 91 years old, could have been a poster child for Viagra. He constantly surrounded himself with a bevy of buxom British babes, especially his secretary and leggy nurse, they all had legs as long as the Nile River, and boobs the size of Mt. Rushmore. These British girls are built as solid as Buckingham Palace! Mr. Grace would hobble around as though death were knocking at his door, but me thinks it was the knockers that kept his heart going and jump started. He would also visit the mens and ladies wear departments to check on things, and always ended with a compliment to the staff, raising his cane high over head and before toppling over himself only to be caught by his nurse, would proclaim.."You've all done very well!!!" Exit stage left.
All was not sales and management as two other characters over the series made their blue collar Cockney selves available to keep the "class warfare" on an even keel with the power of the union and their own wit and quips as weapons. Mr. Mash and Mr. Harmon were not only the "worker class" but also brought to the department floor and an uncanny array of mechanical sales devices that never worked properly as a sales tool but through their malfunction would bring an overload of technical laughs.
In one instance a Santa that was to greet young children with a ho, ho, ho and say..."Hello little boy, do I have a surprise for you." At this point the Santa would open it's arms in greeting and the children would pick a present laid out for them at Santa's feet. However, in true Served fashion, Santa's frock was stuck to the arms and when Santa went for his mechanical greeting with arms akimbo, the coat opened as well and Santa became a pervert exposing his naked mannequin torso to the unsuspecting kids. On Prancer, On Dasher, On Flasher!
The cast of "Are You Being Served" were all trained professionals in live theater and pantomime prior to their work on this show. Some had television experience and some had film by the time they were cast so as a unit their comedic timing was with the precision of a finely made Swiss Watch.
Arthur Brough, (Ernest Grainger) was perhaps the most respected. at a diminutive 5"2' he was regarded with respect by cast and crew alike. He had years of experience running his own theater and repertory group, that also included Trevor Bannister (Mr. Lucas) Usually portrayed as slow and dull witted he was the court jester and merry prankster of the cast constantly pulling pranks on them. One quirk he had however was to disappear during taping and head off to the pub across the street from the studio where he'd down a pint of Pink Gin and then return to the set. The cast never knew where he went for over a year and when the did see where he went, they never said a word.
Frank Thornton had spent years in British stage and television before being cast as Captain Peacock, a role that would be his signature role. During WWII he joined the entertainment corps and entertained the troops. On the show he was called "Captain" but one storyline let the cat out of the bag that he was only a Corporal and never "chased Rommel across the desert"
Nicolas Smith, aka Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold also had a film and television career prior to Served including stints in Dr. Who, The Avengers and the Saint. He is adept at the arts and writes music and is a published poet as well.
Wendy Richard, or Miss Brahms has show biz credentials that warrant an article devoted solely to her career alone, but in a nutshell, she acted on stage, television and movies and during the years of the British Invasion she managed to chart to Number One on the UK singles chart with her release of "Come Outside". John Lennon was suitably impressed with Wendy, probably the legs and her Cockney accent, and he got her a small role in the film, "Help" in 1965, however her one scene ended up on the cutting room floor and was not shown.
Trevor Bannister, the hyper Mr. Lucas on sexual overdrive also had a prior career on British stage and television. He appeared in stage productions of Shakespearean drama, was mentored by Arthur Brough (Mr. Grainger) in theater group, and was also a regular in pantomime productions for over 35 years and was generally cast as "the dame" Ok, so it wasn't Kabuki or even Greek theater, but what the hell, this is England after all.
Frederick John Inman, yep, Mr. Humphries was also in pantomime and played one hell of a dame for most of his career. Hitting the professional stage at the age of 13 his career meteor raced through the pop culture skies. He became iconic and won award after award including the BBC TV Personality of the Year for his role as Mr. Humphries. After the show was canceled he returned to pantomime and camped it up and became the most well known dame in British Pantomime history.
Mollie Sugden, or lovingly known as Mrs. Slocombe was perhaps the most versatile when it came to television. She had appeared in numerous programs on BBC and even after Served was canceled she continued to be cast in other television shows as a main character, but none could ever match her role as Mrs. Slocumb, one the most endearing characters at Grace Brothers Department Store. During WWII Mollie worked in a munitions factory making artillery shells for the British Navy so was one hell of a Rosie the Riveter in addition to one of the finest comedic actresses of the British stage and small screen.
Harlold Bennet the befuddled Young Mr Grace had a varied career prior to his role as the department store patriarch of Grace Brothers. in his youth he toured America as a clown prior to the breakout of WWI. When war did finally come he went back to England and enlisted an became a motorcycle courier on the front lines running messages regarding enemy troop movements to the Allied Forces usually in the line of fire. After the war he studied acting and did some stage work, but not much and instead pursued his dream of becoming an architect which he did until his retirement. It was at that point that he went back to acting and at the age of 72, took the role as Young Mr. Grace.
Today all the cast members have passed on to that big department store in the sky, except for Nicolas Smith, 78, and Frank Thornton who at 91 are the last men standing from Grace Brothers.
Mollie Sugden died in 2009 of natural causes and was cremated. She died four months after attending Wendy Richard's funeral the same year. John Inman was hospitalized with bronchitis in 1993 and also suffered from Hepatitis A and died from complications in 2007 and left most of his entire estate to his partner Ron Lynch. Wendy Richard died in 2009 at the age of 65 of breast cancer and was cremated. Trevor Bannister died in 2011 after a heart attack just three months after attending Frank Thorntons 90th Birthday Party. Harold Bennet died in 1981 after a heart attack two days before his 82nd birthday.
The cast still lives on thanks to video, DVD, and other electronic media. The humor is not dated, and holds up thanks to the razor sharp performances of it's highly talented cast. They may have passed on but somewhere in the world of television "Are Be Served' is being shown somewhere, and you can hear a voice call out ...Mr. Humphries, Are You Free?