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Are You Being Served? Collection 1 (Series 1-5) | 
 enlarge | Actors: John Inman, Mollie Sugden
Studio: BBC Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $99.98
Buy New: $75.58
You Save: $24.40 (24%)
New (26) Used (9) from $47.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 45538
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 7
Running Time: 1110
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.6 x 4.2
MPN: E1672
ISBN: 0790770199
UPC: 794051167224
EAN: 9780790770192
ASIN: B000069HXD
Theatrical Release Date: August 13, 1997
Release Date: August 27, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
There's plenty of laughter in store when an unbelievably quirky contingent of sales clerks makes shopping at Grace Brothers the comic experience of a lifetime. The staff has been hard-at-work polishing and pressing all 34 classic episodes from the first five series of this beloved BBC comedy many available on video for the first time (including the rarely seen black-and-white Pilot episode). Also included is a bonus disc containing close ups of your favorite Are You Being Served? stars and more!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 794051167224 Manufacturer No: E1672
Amazon.com
Are You Being Served? created a standard for the British sitcom. When the Ladies' Department of Grace Brothers store is forced to share a floor with the Men's Department, the stage is set for delightful battles between men and women, senior and junior staff, and management and employees. The show was originally conceived as a vehicle for Trevor Bannister as the irreverent Mr. Lucas, a junior salesman who sardonically punctures the store's rigid hierarchy; but it soon became clear that mocking the established order isn't half as funny as taking it very seriously--with all the delicious pettiness that results. Mincing Mr. Humphries (the effervescent John Inman) and imperious Mrs. Slocombe (comic powerhouse Mollie Sugden) swiftly became audience favorites, ably backed up by snooty, lecherous Capt. Peacock (Frank Thornton), affable Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard), and curmudgeonly Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough). That these talented performers cultivated a engaging comic rapport is no surprise, but it's constantly amazing that the writers were able, over dozens of episodes, to find inventive but believable new spins on the department store scenario, turning security cameras, daffy sales promotions, and even malfunctioning Christmas decorations into brilliant comic set-ups. The later series continued to be enjoyable even after the loss of several of the original cast members, but the first five series (which originally aired from 1972 to 1977) have the perfect balance of prickly personalities. A gem of a show, well deserving of the reverence of its rabid fans. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Tounge-in-cheek Hilariousness June 10, 2008
I have always loved quick and witty comedy and this is the epitome of that, not to mention I'm on the immature side and love sexual innuendoes. The best thing about this show is with the more I viewed it, the better it got. The characters are so well written and the cast has such great chemistry that the jokes got funnier, the zany situations got more believable and unexpected, and the whole atmosphere of Grace Brothers was just an environment I accepted.
The thing that I liked best about this show was the hierarchy system with strict guidelines that the management liked to enforce on the staff. There is so much red-tape the whole staff has to deal with from how to wear your handkerchief, how you talk, what you say when selling, how you get lunch breaks, what you can do. Not to mention this, upper management is always coming up with new scheme to save money whether it be cutting off the gas, turning off the lifts for additional hours, and so and on so for. So every episode is almost a rebellion against upper management to weasel something in whether it be a quick smoke or a sandwich from the canteen.
Not to mention the staff that is just insane. Whether it is the flamboyant Mr. Humphries spending the weekend with his mother or Captain Peacock always being accused of an affair, there is always something funny going on between the staff.
I can't recommend this show enough for its wit and originality.
 Very Very Sorry !!! June 26, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I would like to recall the message I sent earlier regarding my stuff not arriving on time. I would like to here-by state that my package did arrive on the day I wrote the message to Amazon. The actual problem was with the Postal Service from my end. They failed to inform me that the package arrived the previous week. I want to say that Amazon are really professionals in whatever they do and that I have full trust and confidence in them. I will, very soon, be viewing the DVD's and giving my review on it, even though I know that it is going to be really hilarious. This is one Fantasic BBC's comedy series that you can never get tired of watching over and over again.
Classic British Humor January 15, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What can I say? Buy this set and you won't regret it. This is British humor at its best.
"...And A Special Switch For Mr. Lucas To Shut His Atomic Cakehole..." December 20, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This set encompasses the first five seasons of the brilliant British sitcom "Are You Being Served" from the 1970s. The show is set in an upscale department store, Grace Brothers, and features the misadventures of the men's and women's departments, which are forced to share a small floor area. Grace Brothers has an aristocratic bent with an extremely well defined rank structure, which sets many of the comedic conflicts in motion. The show is extremely well conceived and written by BBC veterans David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, but the magic of the show is due largely to the chemistry of the cast.
Most noteworthy in the cast are Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard, and Trevor Bannister. For pure laughs Mollie Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe is my favorite (her hair is a different color every week) and is perfect as the slightly pompous and matronly senior salesperson in the ladies department. Her junior, Wendy Richard (who is still on a British soap opera today) is excellent as the slightly crass Cockney lass, Miss Brahams. Unfortunately for Miss Brahams, all the men in the store (except John Inman) desire her, particularly the jocular Mr. Lucas, the junior salesman from menswear. Lucas is known for his wisecracks and disobedient antics which normally elicit a well written barb from one of the ladies (see my title for an example from Mrs. Slocombe.) Frank Thornton is perfect as the floor supervisor, Captain Peacock, and excels at portraying classic English stuffiness with a farcical edge. Second only to Sudgen (or perhaps tied with her) for pure comedic entertainment is John Inman as Mr. Humphries, the flamboyant mincing mama's boy who loves nothing more than measuring an "inside leg" (that's "inseam" to Americans.) His comic timing, diction, and costumes make Inman impossible to overlook.
This set is well packaged with trivia about the various episodes and several extras, most notably on disc seven which has biographies of Inman, Sugden, and Richard, all of whom have more interesting lives than you might suspect.
This show is essentially clean family fun: there is some innuendo, but no vulgarity of any sort. Virtually anyone can appreciated the at once understated, yet occasionally way over-the-top situations these performers so deftly made into one of the most eminently enjoyable shows ever to come from the UK. I highly recommend "Are You Being Served," a near-perfect sitcom if ever there was one.
The very best of British comedies! June 18, 2005
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Witty, intelligent, sarcastic, and populated with some of the most lovable characters, Are You Being Served is probably the funniest Britcom ever. It has aged very well, and one can watch it over and over again without feeling sated. Whether it's the nuanced or pointed jabs at the British society, the not so-subtle allusions to Mr. Humphries' afterwork life, or the language games, there are plenty of laughs to be had.
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