Talk:Are You Being Served?/Archive 1

Move/change title
Could we move this to Are You Being Served? with the punctuation. The move function is just to slow on my computer to do it myself. Rmhermen 17:46 Mar 22, 2003 (UTC)

OK, will do quercus robur 17:53 Mar 22, 2003 (UTC)

Discussion of moving The Pilot Episode to a more suitable name
The article about the pilot episode of Are You Being Served, which is currently called simply "The Pilot Episode", was recently up for deletion, but it was decided that the only thing wrong was the name. Please see Talk:The Pilot Episode to contribute to the discussion on this. --Tony Sidaway Talk 22:53, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Minor characters
Would it be suitable on this list to include a section on recurring minor characters in the series? Such as Vivienne Johnson, who played Mr. Grace's nurse, or Penny Irving, who played Mr. Grace's secretary? What are your thoughts? Erzahler 23:33, 30 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Maybe they could be tucked in at the end of the other characters. "Canteen manageress" is already there, and she certainly was in a minority of episodes. Rivertorch 04:46, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Plot summaries
I hate to throw a spanner in the works, but I see people have been creating articles for each episode, containing a plot summary. To quote from Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information, "Plot summaries. Wikipedia articles on works of fiction should contain real-world context and sourced analysis, offering detail on a work's achievements, impact or historical significance, not solely a summary of that work's plot. A plot summary may be appropriate as an aspect of a larger article". Perhaps it would be better to incorporate the plot summaries into either this article, or articles for each series. Otherwise I fear they might be nominated for deletion. Cordless Larry 14:19, 20 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree that a page for each episode is unneccessary. May I suggest a page similiar to List of My Family episodes, which I recently created, so a small plot summary could be written for each episode. I'm happy to create it if others agree, and the existing episode pages could be redirected. --Berks105 10:54, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Episode list
I have now created this page, and I am redirecting the episode pages to the new article. Once this is done, I will put the Are You Being Served? episodes category up for deletion. A page for each episode really is unneccessary. --Berks105 20:31, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Slocombe's hair
Hilarious as it was, it rather surprised me when I first watched the ancient reruns. Wasn't it somewhat scandalous to dye your hair an unnatural color back then, especially to older folk? I mean she obviously wasn't doing it to be punk, but, ... was it supposed to be a bubbleheaded mistake on her part?
 * It was not scandalous for older women with grey hair to commonly have their hair permed and set, with a blue rinse. Other common colour rinses over grey hair were mauve and sometimes pink. None of these were anything like any natural hair colour, but it was standard practice amongst many older women. The wild tones of Slocombe's hair were however often exaggerated: the greens and oranges were never common. Melbn 04:39, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Grace Brothers out of date
One episode which has Harmon wearing a Grace Brothers store turn of the century porter's uniform-in anticipation of Queen Elizabeth II visting Grace Brothers-points up the out of date store policies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.53.145.169 (talk) 12:52, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I know that the episode does feature that, but it is not needed in the short bio of Mr Harman.--UpDown (talk) 13:16, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

"Grace & Favour" DVD releases
Information about the "Grace & Favour" / "Are You Being Served? Again!" DVD releases was recently removed from the table in the DVD releases section. However, I decided to restore this information. First, Grace & Favour contains no information on DVD releases. It might not be the best decision to totally remove information from Wikipedia before it's put somewhere else. Second, "Grace & Favour" is so closely related to "Are You Being Served?" that it makes sense to include its DVD release on the "AYBS?" page itself. --Ericdn (talk) 13:34, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Then the answer is to add a DVD section to the Grace & Favour article, not add it to this one. DVD release information is not vital anyway, so it being removed from a page it shouldn't be at is not a disaster. Yes, the programmes are related but they have seperate articles and minor info like this does not belong on this article. Grace & Favour should be mentioned briefly on this article, but not to the level where we have DVD info on it here. Otherwise we might as well just have one article.--UpDown (talk) 18:05, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I see from this page's edit history that I'm not the only one who feels that the Grace & Favour DVD information should be included in this article. Perhaps the issue should be discussed some more, instead of being regularly added, deleted, restored, deleted again, ad nauseum? --Ericdn (talk) 09:13, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It hasn't been added that much, and only by IP users who perhaps aren't aware that there is a seperate page. --UpDown (talk) 09:43, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It seems straightforward to me. Grace & Favour DVD information - if it is to be mentioned in WP at all - should go on the Grace & Favour page. And having been listed there, it does not need to be duplicated on additional WP articles. DVD information is neither crucial nor mandatory on a TV show article anyway, whether it really needs to be listed anywhere at all could be questioned. I mean, most programs are released in DVD these days. Format (talk) 18:54, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Your last sentence fails, in my opinion, to adequately explain why such information is "neither crucial nor mandatory on a TV show article". --Ericdn (talk) 18:56, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Article layout
Could Cast and Characteristics be swapped to avoid the very ugly space? Tseward (talk) 19:06, 16 December 2009 (UTC)Martinevans123 (talk) 20:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Theme song
The article states "There is a homage to the theme song in the Ladytron song "Paco!" from the album "604"  Where is the reference to this statement?  Until one can be produced, it has no place in this article. Tseward (talk) 19:07, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Why I made the "camp" alteration
First, grammatically, a parody refers to a work or style, not to a person or group of people.

Second, the book Are You Being Served?: The Inside Story of Britain's Funniest — And Public Television's Favorite — Comedy Series by Adrian Rigelsford, Anthony Brown and Geoff Tibballs makes numerous references to Inman's portrayal being "more camp than gay," to quote gay commentator Chris Steer. It also features a clipping of a Daily Express article concerning Inman's campy portrayal being the main cause of the controversy with the Mr. Humpries character. I made the change because I felt that terminology better fit the situation. Justin The Claw 02:09, 18 August 2007 (UTC)


 * So original research, published in a book, is valid for inclusion in Wikipedia, but if I had said Mr. Humphries is more camp than gay, that would not. There is something wrong with the Wikipedia model.

Camp is a subset of gay the way rap is a subset of hiphop. To make it simple, camp = gay. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.163.65.9 (talk) 13:16, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

You clearly don't know much about camp. Joan Collins in Dynasty is camp.... so she's gay? Vauxhall1964 (talk) 18:33, 1 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Camp is a fluid term with multiple meanings that are open to interpretatiom. Format (talk) 20:01, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

On "Are You Being Served?: Do you take this man?",
premiered "11-29-1978", Mrs. Betty Slocombe (née Mary Elizabeth Jennifer Rachel Yiddell Abergavenny) (ladieswear senior assistant, Mollie Sugden), referred to her Greek bigamist boyfriend|fiance|fiancé as "dago". Hopiakuta 19:23, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

She also called him a wog. What of it? Ttenchantr (talk) 05:02, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Anti-Semitism in Are You Being Served?
I didn't want to start making additions to the article, but I feel something should be said here about the open antisemitism of the series in regards to the Mr. Goldberg character. Does anyone know of any references for this? Matt 04:50, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
 * To be honest I don't think there was any real anti-semitism in Are You Being Served?, all the characters had the mickey taken out of them at some point, and to say that this would have been anti-semitism in Mr. Goldberg's case I think is unfair. Regardless I doubt we could source such a thing, I've certainly never read it anywhere. --Berks105 10:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, it was worth a thought, I don't want to add anything to the article without sourcing, but watching the show the antisemitism with regards to Mr. Goldberg is apparent. The other characters are made fun of but the treatment of Goldberg is especially negative, plus, unlike the other characters, he never seems to "get it back" if you get what I mean.  If it could be sourced it would be a useful addition, especially for anyone interested in antisemitism in British culture of the 1970's.
 * I don't think that the anti-semitism expressed toward Mr. Goldberg is any more pronounced than any of the other gross ethnic/regional/class/religious stereotypes and parodies presented. There are non-PC portrayals and references throughout the series with the accompanying less-than-tolerant reactions of the staff, including Germans, Japanese, Arabs, Blacks, Greeks, Italians, Muslims, French, Irish, Welsh, Cockneys, Americans, Gays, and even Somerset folk. It is my opinion that all these portrayed stereotypes are meant to be absurd, rather than a reflection of any ingrained prejudices of the authors, actors, and even anticipated audience. jchristopher 01:52, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I disagree with the view that anti-Semitism was demonstrated (by the writers and other show creators) toward Mr. Goldberg. The character as written was likeable; he was not mocked or villified. Other characters treated him with respect. I'll grant that the character was written as smart and enterprising, and that some viewers might have considered these qualities to be stereotypically Jewish. But as no negative connotations attached to these qualities, and in view of the conventions of BBC comedies of the time (which permitted depictions of cliches about various demographic groups), I disagree that AYBS contains examples of anti-Semitism.Gheelnory (talk) 07:30, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I'm free
I'm not sure if this part of the article is correct: "the workers are noticeably free; each would look solemnly from side to side before saying 'Yes I'm free, Captain Peacock.'" Specifically, the use of the word "solemnly". I've always interpreted the gag as being that Peacock asks as a matter of protocol, regardless of the obvious answer, and the workers look from side to side bemused at Peacock's "by the book" nature. I don't think solemnly correctly describes their response to the request; I would simply remove it. Does anyone else agree?


 * How many words did you type to talk about removing one adverb? Are you challenged?  Or just Aspergers?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.16 (talk) 11:07, 8 September 2010 (UTC)


 * I disagree. I've always the thought that the workers too look to check as a matter of proctocol. I don't think its beausment. --Berks105 10:33, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * It varied. It probably was a matter of protocol, and they'd look around even if they knew perfectly well they were free, but sometimes they appeared to genuinely check if they were free. (And sometimes they weren't free, as when Mr. Grainger told Capt. Peacock, "I'm sorry, Capt. Peacock. I'm brim-steaming.") Rivertorch 15:17, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

What's a Jack the Lad?
What's a Jack the Lad? Two Halves, who does not know his British idiom


 * Knowing Captain Peacock, it sounds like flirt/adulterer. TheCustomOfLife 22:12, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * This particular Anonymous Coward is told that there is some reference to the laddish behaviour of a young Jack Charlton, though it may be older still.
 * I still don't understand it. I should, since my family on my mother's side is half from Birkenhead, but I do not. Mike H 21:27, Jun 29, 2004 (UTC)

A Jack the Lad is someone (sually a young man) who is a bit irresponsible, cheeky, irreverent. Looking at the article this shouldn't apply to Captain Peacock, but should probably apply to Mr. Lucas. DJ Clayworth 21:35, 29 Jun 2004 (UTC)


 * Yes, Cpt Peacock is by no means a Jack the Lad and somebody's already removed the label, it appears. --bodnotbod 22:15, Jun 29, 2004 (UTC)

Interestingly, I have recently labelled Mr Lucas a 'Jack the lad' in the characters listing, although I was concerned that he was perhaps more of a 'smoothie'? Having now read this talk section I am happy that Mr Lucas, being someone who presumably fancies his chances with the ladies, is something of a Jack the lad. Jaydash - 19.00, 13 March, 2006

For what it's worth Captain Peacock is accused of being a "Jack the lad" by his wife in some of the later episodes when he is suspected of infidelity. I can't recall the term actually being used in relation to Mr Lucas. Timrollpickering (talk) 12:18, 25 March 2011 (UTC)


 * See origin of the name of Jack the Lad the band.,which has this:
 * The phrase "Jack the Lad" is British slang for a "flashy, cocksure young man". ref:C. Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme (Thorndike Press, 2006), ISBN 0-7862-8517-6. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Martinevans123 (talk • contribs) 13:21, March 25, 2011 (UTC)

John Lewis Urban Myth
There is a urban myth within John Lewis that one of the sourth London branches was also an inspiration for the programme. (The relevant branches have since been closed). --193.35.254.226 (talk) 16:44, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Colour pilot is on DVD
The article states the restored colour pilot not being on DVD. It is in fact on Region 2 DVD. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dewdude (talk • contribs) 19:40, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Grace Brothers - name
FYI, Grace Brothers was a name of a real department store in New South Wales of Australia until its name was changed into Myers by its parent company

It's also a well-known Australian furniture removals firm Arthurvasey (talk) 17:43, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm. No, thats Grace Removals these days. It was a part of GB stores years ago, delivering their furniture. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.244.238.138 (talk) 11:25, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

Humphries gay?
The below discussion has always annoyed me in this article. "John Inman's parody of an effeminate gay man, offensive to some gay men and women. Inman points out that it was never explicitly said that his character was gay, and creators Lloyd and Croft have stated in interviews that the character was not a homosexual. In fact, Mr. Humphries seemed to be more 'on the fence' or bisexual when it came to his sexuality as he showed interest in both men and women, and often took on traditional female and male roles."

To me, it is like insisting "Miss Brahms is not really a Cockney". I mean, clearly viewers were meant to assume that Humphries was gay. Its just that, like most workplaces in the 1970s, he could not really be too explicit about it at work. Claims he was bisexual I do not believe are substantiated by the series at all: I do not believe he ever had a female reomantic partner after all. In any event, clearly its funnier that its never explicitly stated by the show, so stories can always keep throwing hints to the audience and they stay funny because nothing was ever explicitly confirmed. So while we can't say that he was gay, we also can't say he was bisexual either.

And I do not care what Lloyd and Croft have stated - because their show itself never actually substantiated those claims. The article is about the actual show, not the never-revealed back-story of its characters that never made it onto the show. Asa01 02:01, 21 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Interesting discussion. There was at least one episode—I don't recall the title but will post it here if I can find it—in which it was strongly implied that a romantic encounter between Humphries and Slocombe was imminent. As I recall, outside events intervened to prevent their being alone together, and Mr. Humphries was a little relieved but also disappointed.


 * A romantic--or even lustful--moment between Mr. Humphries and Miss Brahms was shown in the Series 8 episode "The Erotic Dreams of Mrs. Slocombe." After Miss Brahms demonstrated an unspecified hand action on Mr. Humphries (for him to use on Mrs. Slocombe), he rather forcefully leapt on her. I don't think that many viewers would have assumed the character had gone straight, but the moment might contribute to "Mr. Humphries could have been bisexual" theories.


 * That said, it's probably impossible to write about the character's orientation in a way that will please all Wikipedia readers. Would a mention of the rarity of explicitly homosexual characters in television comedy of the period help to close the gap? Those who negatively judge the circumlocutions and coyness of AYBS's presentation of Humphries may be judging by 21st century standards (by which, in a show like the current 'Modern Family' on ABC, regular gay characters are depicted with open directness).Gheelnory (talk) 07:23, 29 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, viewers were meant to assume that Humpries was gay, or possibly bi. Since he never explicitly announced his orientation, it's open to some speculation. Sometimes such speculation can be annoying, I'll admit, but the whole topic was such a central part of the show (Is he or isn't he? He is, isn't he? Yeah, I thought so! No, but wait . . . hmm) that it seems appropriate for discussion in the article. As for Lloyd and Croft, whatever their motivations for saying what they said, I think their statements about the characters are also fair game for the article because they may reveal the (good or bad) intentions of the creators. Btw, there's a parallel intrigue re John Inman (not discussed in his article yet, but maybe should be). Rivertorch 03:10, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * John Inman married his long-term male partner so that has since been cleared-up. I recall similar (but very heated!) WP talk page speculation about a similar character in US series Reno 911! I agree with what Rivertorch says about the specualation being part of the comedy of the series. I felt the WP article was suggesting that the character was positively bisexual; I feel the article should (and should only) state that it was never confirmed. We should make no new speculation in the article (and certainly not reach any conclusion), though I agree we should note that there would presumably have been speculation about the character amongst the viewers of the show. I'll try to fix the wording - but I wanted others feedback before doing that. Asa01 03:22, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Capt Peacock: You must understand, Mr Lucas, that this gentleman is Japanese. He has difficulty getting his tongue 'round his "r"s. Mr Humphries: You know, I would have thought that it was just a matter of practice. Is this homophobic??220.244.238.138 (talk) 11:32, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

Floorwalker stub article
In § Main characters is a link to the stub article, Floorwalker. At present, the Floorwalker article acts like a Wiktionary entry. I suggest that said article should be either drastically expanded, or merged with a relevant article and links that direct to Floorwalker instead be replaced with a Wiktionary link. Christopher, Sheridan, OR (talk) 19:22, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

John Inman spin off single - reached number 39
John Inman had a spin off single which reached number 39 in the charts, released in October 1975, called Aare You Being Served Sir - label catalogue reference DJM DJS 602. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr gobrien (talk • contribs) 20:38, 23 June 2020 (UTC)