Are You Being Served? Vol 9

Attention shoppers! Your favorite dysfunctional sales staff is back with more mischief, more hilarity and more hair colors! Join Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe, Miss Brahms, Captain Peacock, Mr. Lucas and the rest of the gang as they make shopping at Grace Brothers the comic experience of a lifetime. This ready-to-wear collection of classic episodes has been lovingly pressed and polished for DVD.

Includes the following episodes: The Junior, Strong Stuff This Insurance, The Apartment, Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person, The Hero, Anything  You Can Do

Camp Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe's pussy and the ridiculous goings-on at Grace Bros. have kept audiences laughing since 1973. This tongue-in-cheek farce, by top writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, is one of BBC's best-selling classic comedies, especially in America, where its success is phenomenal.

A large, old-fashioned department store in London, Grace Bros. is still run on strictly hierarchical lines. Each member of staff knows their place -- in theory. In practice, they are all engaged in their own private wars with management and with each other:

Take the lift down and you'll find Mr. Rumbold (Nicholas Smith), manager of the clothing department. In reality he leaves the day-to-day running of his floor to his snooty shop-walker, Captain Peacock (Frank Thornton). Peacock's ambition is a seat in the executive restaurant, but meantime he has to mediate between Menswear and Ladies' Fashions.

In Gentlemen's Ready-To-Wear, Senior Salesman, Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough), is an obstinate old man prone to falling asleep. He is later replaced by Mr.Tebbs (James Hayter), then by Mr. Goldberg (Alfie Bass), who served in the army with Captain Peacock. Under him is Mr. Humphries, played by John Inman, a very popular character with his camp mannerisms and jaunty readiness to measure an inside leg. Bottom of the pecking order comes randy Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister), who is later replaced by Mr. Spooner (Mike Berry).

Ladies' Separates and Underwear is staffed by Senior Saleslady, Mrs Slocombe (Mollie Sugden), a rapacious widow with an astonishing range of fluorescent hair colors and malapropisms. Her main topic of conversation is her pussy. Junior Saleslady, Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard), is a sharp-tongued, buxom Cockney.

And finally, down in the basement, (but usually up in the department), is the caretaker, Mr. Harman (Arthur English), who delights in making a nuisance of himself with his trade unionism and ridiculous display models.

The Junior - Mr. Goldberg is hired as a junior after having recently run his own small tailoring business. To Captain Peacock's chagrin, the staff learn that Mr. Goldberg had served under the Captain but recalls those army days differently.

Strong Stuff This Insurance - The staff must take physicals to get insurance. Listening through the door of Mr. Grace's office, they hear Mr. Harman describing the state of the furniture, which they misunderstand as being the results of their physicals.

The Apartment - By permission of Mr. Grace, Mrs. Slocombe moves into a display apartment in Grace Brothers, because her new home is occupied by squatters. Due to a transport strike, Mr. Humphries seeks to join her in her new accommodation.

Mrs. Slocombe, Senior Person - Mrs. Slocombe temporarily takes the place of Mr. Rumbold, who has taken ill . She eats the cream cakes she finds in his office. But she then gets a call from the hospital warning that the ice cream is what made him ill.

The Hero - Captain Peacock is challenged to a boxing match by a member of another department. He backs out, and Mr. "Hugger" Humphries is "elected" to take his place in a wrestling match. He loses that match, but Mrs. Slocombe enters the ring and defeats the challenger.

Anything You Can Do - The standard of the canteen food of Grace Brothers is rapidly going from bad to worse. After confronting the catering workers with their complaints, the staff are told to get on with the food preparation on their on.

Cast

Miss Brahms	---	Wendy Richard
Mr. Humphries	---	John Inman
Mrs. Slocombe	---	Mollie Sugden
Mr. Grace	---	Harold Bennett
Mr. Lucas	---	Trevor Bannister
Captain Peacock	---	Frank Thornton
Mr. Harman	---	Arthur English
Mr. Rumbold	---	Nicholas Smith
Young Mr. Grace	---	(series 1-8)Harold Bennett
Mr. Grainger	---	(series 1-5)Arthur Brough
Mr. Tebbs	---	(series 6)James Hayter
Mr. Goldberg	---	(series 7)Alfie Bass
Mr. Mash	---	(series 1-3)Larry Martyn
Mr Spooner	---	(series 8 onwards)Mike Berry
Mr. Grossman	---	(series 8)Milo Sperber
Mr. Klein	---	(series 8)Benny Lee
Old Mr. Grace	---	(series 8)Kenneth Waller
Secretary	---	(series 1)Stephanie Gathercole
Miss Bakewell	---	(series 4-7)Penny Irving
Secretary	---	(series 8)Debbie Linden
Miss Thorpe	---	(series 3)Moira Foot
Nurse	---	(series 6-8)Vivienne Johnson
Miss Belfridge	---	(series 9 onwards)Candy Davis
Mrs. Peacock	---	(occasional)Diane Lambert

Production Credits

Produced by David Croft
Written by David Croft, Jeremy Lloyd
Directed by David Croft, Gordon Elsbury