Customer Reviews

Are You Being Served? Collection 1 (Series 1-5)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Here's the info from the BBC America site. Looking fwd to these:

> The staff has been hard-at-work polishing and pressing all 34 classic episodes from the first five series of this beloved BBC comedy series, 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!

Volume One: Pilot - Dear Sexy Knickers - Our Figures Are Slipping - Camping In - His and Hers - Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend

Volume Two: The Clock - Cold Comfort - The Think Tank - Big Brother - Hoorah for the Holidays - The Hand of Fate

Volume Three: Coffee Morning - Up, Captain Peacock - Cold Store - Wedding Bells - German Week - Shoulder to Shoulder

Volume Four: New Look - Christmas Crackers - No Sale - Top Hat & Tails - Forward Mr. Grainger - Fire Practice

Volume Five: Fifty Years On - Oh What a Tangled Web - The Father Christmas Affair - Mrs. Slocombe Expects - A Change is as Good as a Rest

Volume Six: Founders Day - The Old Order Changes - Takeover - Goodbye Mr. Grainger - It Pays to Advertise

DVD extras include:

"Funny Turns - John Inman" - A close-up look at the career of the infamous John Inman

"Funny Women - Mollie Sugden" - Up close and personal with Mollie Sugden

"A Life on the Box: Wendy Richard" - A peek at the career of Wendy Richard

Who's Who

Trivia

Trailers and more!

I'm free!

I am so happy to see this hilarious series become available on DVD. My previous forays into BBC comedies on the digital format have been "Fawlty Towers" and "As Time Goes By". Both series looked absoutely wonderful. Crisp, clear, and with rich colors. I have no doubt that this new offering of Are You Being Served? will be the same.

Set in old-fashioned Grace Brothers Department Store, "Are You Being Served?" was a long running comedy series which followed the day to day antics of the Mens and Ladies Wear departments, both on the same floor. It was, in its own way, a microcosm of society (albeit a slightly off society). You've got a young man who is after the ladies (Mr. Lucas), a young lady who is looking for a man to treat her right (Ms. Brahms), an older woman who changes the color of her hair nearly every episode (Mrs. Slocombe), a gay man (Mr. Humphries), a snooty floorwalker who steps out on his wife occasionally (Captain Peacock), and a slighltly aloof department manager, mostly concerned with the health of the sales figures (Mr. Rumbold). And who can forget the doddering, but lovable, old man who is still in love with his wife after years and years of marriage (Mr. Grainger). The actors do an outstanding job with their roles, and there is plenty of chemistry present between them. It was obvious that they were having an enjoyable time together.

This collection of the first 5 series (or seasons) of the show are a great introduction to the first-time viewer, and an absolute treaure for those of us who have grown to love it over the years. Many of the highlights of the episodes revolve around crazy ideas the staff come up with in order to drum up business, including dressing up in outrageous costumes, adopting a German touristy look, and opening the store early (an idea which the staff puts an abrupt end to in one hilarious episode). Oh, and I still get a kick out of Mrs. Slocombe's references to her cat.

"Are You Being Served?" ran for twelve years in Britain, and, coincidentally enough, it ran for twelve consecutive years on my local PBS station - a marker of its great humor, fabulous characters, and enduring charm. I can't wait to own it on DVD.

Thank God! It's certainly taken some time for the staff of Grace Brothers department store to make an appearance on DVD, but it looks like it's well worth the wait. Purists take note, this is the FIRST time we'll see EVERY episode from the first five seasons of this show in chronological order (previous VHS versions only collected the episodes in a clumsy "Best of" configuration...

Few details on the extras at this point, but who cares, as long as I have Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe, Miss Brahms, Mr. Grainger, Captain Peacock, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Rumbold and Young Mr. Grace in all their digital glory, I'll be one customer extremely well served.

I hope I hope I hope they release seasons 6-10 later on and complete the "Are You Being Served?" DVD experience!

This has to be one of my favorite television series ever. I'm so glad this DVD set has preserved the earlier episodes so well. The 30 somewhat episodes on the 6 included discs are presented with crystal clear audio and beautiful video. Chapter stops for each episode are included, and some little bits of trivia are included. Disc 7 features special interview sessions with John Inman, Mollie Sugden, and Wendy Richard.

The episodes are present chronologically on each disc, which is better than the VHS releases, which seemed to throw 3 random episodes onto a tape. Experience the series from start to 1977, from the black-and-white Pilot to "It Pays to Advertise." All episodes presented include all that had Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough). This set ends before episodes with different a senior from the men's department. Hopefully, since we were privileged to get these that it's a sign for future releases of the remaining 7 years of episodes.

My only complaint is that this set boasts that it has trailers as a bonus. The trailers are for other TV series! I know trailers probably don't exist for this series, but at least they could have been held off to one disc and listed as "Previews of other TV series."

While this set may be pricy, believe me you won't regret spending the money if you're a true fan. This show was really given the attention it deserved on these discs, and I highly recommend them to any fan of the show or of British television.

If you're like me, you've probably been catching random episodes of this fantastic 1970s British comedy on your local PBS station for years. If you're like me, you might have some on recorded on VHS with poor picture quality. And if you're like me, the previous official VHS releases with only about three episodes per video were simply too darn expensive to purchase. This DVD set is a dream come true! Pristine video and audio better than the original PBS broadcasts I've watched, this has the show's first five seasons complete, including two Christmas specials and a "lost" episode never shown on American TV. The seventh disc has three 30-minute documentaries on three of the main cast members, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, and Wendy Richard. Sure, the price is high, but you're getting over 1,000 minutes of constantly re-watchable entertainment! Oh, what I wouldn't have given for a few John Inman audio commentaries, though... Still, I'm certainly looking forward to the second set, completing the best British comedy series ever.

At long last the entire series of this classic Britcom (ten series from 1973 through 1985) is available on two DVD boxed sets. Commencing with the black-and-white pilot, set one covers the entire first five series (thirty-four 30-minute episodes from 1973-1977). Incidentally, these are all the series to feature curmudgeonly Mr. Grainger, head of menswear; sadly, Arthur Brough died (aged 73) before series six got under way. The BBC has done a fantastic job with these DVDs--the quality of the picture is awesome, the sets come complete with the Christmas specials (positioned chronologically in the order originally broadcast), with the icing on the cake being the DVD extras.

The series revolves around the staff of Grace Brothers' Department Store--particulary the staff of menswear and ladieswear. The ladies' department is headed by the pompous, air-assuming Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden). She's a bit of a man eater (or would be could she get her hands on one!) and is forever fretting about Tiddles, her um pussycat! Her junior is sexy Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard), who is constantly fighting off the advances of Mr. Lucas, the menswear junior. In between Mr. Lucas and Mr. Grainger is Mr. Humphreys (John Inman). With his mincing gait, outrageous costumes, and familiar cry of "I'm free," he's my personal favourite--though how can one really choose between this lot as they are ALL superb! Of course one cannot forget the subtly lecherous floorwalker, Captain Peacock, a pompous ex-army officer (or so he claims). One gets a sense that this is probably the only position of authority he's ever had, and he milks it for all its worth, barking orders at his underlings at every opportunity. His favourite target is the rough, bawdy maintenance man, Mr. Mash (replaced by Mr. Harman in the fourth series), a militant trade unionist who loves to goad Cpt. Peacock (and who probably makes more money than he does too!). And who could forget Mr. Rumbold, the bald-pated, jug-eared department head (like Mollie Sugden, Nicholas Smith was very good-natured in allowing his physical appearance to be the basis of so much humour!); or Young Mr. Grace, the elderly and extremely frail but hilariously lustful store owner (Harold Bennett was 74 when the series began!).

DVD extras consist of three 30-minute profiles (John Inman (1999), Mollie Sugden (1998), and Wendy Richard (2001)), each of which provides a brief bio, snippets from the various television productions in which the actor has been involved, remembrances from fellow actors (on the Inman and Richard profiles these include writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft plus all the surviving members of the original AYBS cast with the exception of Nicholas Smith). John Inman's forte is pantomime, and his profile includes snippets from some of the pantos he's done. Mollie Sugden's profile includes remembrances by actor William Moore (her late husband), and the focus, careerwise, is shared between AYBS and The Liver Birds (her two biggest series). Wendy Richard's profile is the only one that is narrated, and it contains in a nutshell much of what one finds in her delightful autobiography "Wendy Richard...no 's'". Careerwise, it focuses on AYBS and Eastenders (the two main series she's done). It's the most personal of the three, and a special treat is hearing a snippet of Mike Sarne's 1962 song "Come Outside" which featured Richard and was responsible for launching her career. The final feature is "Are You Being Confused?", a text-based dictionary of British slang.

With scripts liberally laced with double entendres, innuendos and puns, and a cast of characters made all the more memorable by some of the most capable actors in British comedy, this is character comedy at its best. It's an outstanding collection of a true Britcom classic which I highly recommend. I also highly recommend Richard Webber's excellent tribute book "Are You Being Served? A Celebration of 25 Years" (a 1998 UK publication).

Along with "Fawlty Towers", this is my favorite British television program of all time (thank you, PBS!). Unfortunately, there are zero details about this release (both for this boxed set, and the individual volumes) on the ... product page at this time, but I know that'll be fixed when they get something to pass along. But the main thing is...finally!...if you've never spent time in the Ladies' and Men's department of Grace Brothers department store, then you are in for a treat! Capt. Peacock, Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Grainger, Mr. Humphries, Mr. Lucas, Miss Brahms, and of course "old jug ears", Mr. Rumbold might just become some of your best friends in T.V. Land! (and I am unanimous in that!) ...

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.

After years of trying to see every episode of this hilarious sitcom on PBS only to have endless time changes, schedule reshufflings, and telethons get in the way, I am so glad that the BBC has put all 69 episodes out on DVD so quickly. This first set represents the best AYBS? material with original cast members Arthur Brough (Mr. Grainger), Harold Bennett (Young Mr. Grace), Larry Martyn (Mr. Mash), and Trevor Bannister (Mr. Lucas). From the black & white pilot through "It Pays to Advertise" from season 5, this set also includes my all-time favorite AYBS? episode "Big Brother," when Mr. Rumbold installs a closed circuit television in the store to uncover a burglar but instead uses it to spy on the Grace Brother's staff. The artistic details of both AYBS? sets are very nice. After choosing an episode, the elevator conductor announces the title and the lift doors open to reveal the plot.

What I also enjoy about both DVD sets for this series are the extras in volume 7. In this set, you get half hour bios on John Inman, Molly Sugden, and Wendy Richard. Each bio includes pre-AYBS? clips (Sugden in "The Liver Birds," "Coronation Street;" Richard in "The Newcomers," "Hugh and I," "Up Pompeii!," "Dad's Army," etc.). In Richard's bio, there are many clips from the long-running soap opera EastEnders. They also include interview clips with Inman, Bannister, Frank Thornton, Richard, and Sugden as well as others that look like they were recorded fairly recently. Why was this series so successful?: Because the characters were wonderful, the acting superb, and the writing irreverent and just plain funny! This set (as well as series 6-10) has a very 1970s design and looks great on display. Any fan will cherish both sets and, as Mrs. Slocombe says, "I am unanimous in this."

The BBC America site lists a release date of 9/30/2003 for the second DVD box set, with the final 35 episodes of the funniest show ever on television.

Most fans agree that there are fewer highlights in the later episodes, but there are some gems nonetheless. "Goodbye Mrs. Slocombe," for instance, one of the very best, was one of the last.

One wonderful bonus to be included on the "extras" disc is the first episode of "Grace and Favour," the sequel series, which was called "Are You Being Served? Again" in America. Hopefully this will lead to the release of that entire (brief) series as well, which was an affectionate continuation of these truly lovable characters.