Customer Reviews

Are You Being Served 5 [VHS]

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Come into the store and get to know all the members of the "ladies and gents" departments by name. Mrs. Slocombe is having a birthday and wants to make sure everyone knows, but not to guess her age. Must see birthday bash! Management has it's problems too as Captain Peacock and Mr. Rumbold's secretary have everyone talking and the staff convenes a trial to find the answers!You will in enjoy the transfermation of mild-mannered Mr. Gainger when he is given temporary charge of the department.I have enjoyed watching the "Are You Being Served?" series on T.V. over the years and would not miss out on one of the videos in this series.

Are You Being Served? is the story of the staff of the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Wear departments in Grace Brother's department store. While customer's come and go, the staff fights each other and their incompetent superiors with laughs all around. The stories are hilarious and are generally clean, though a running gag involves one lady's constant frettings about her pussy (cat). So, this tape can be watched with younger ones, but some discretion should be exercised.

Tape 5 includes the following three half-hour episodes:

Fifty Years On - Series IV, episode 5, 1976 - It's Mrs. Slocombe's birthday, and the staff decide to give her great party. Now how old is she?

Oh What a Tangled Web - Series IV, episode 6, 1976 - When Captain Peacock and Mr. Rumbold's secretary show up late, the staff begins to talk. When Mrs. Peacock comes in, the action heats up!

Forward Mr. Grainger - Series IV, episode 3, 1976 - When Mr. Rumbold goes to a sales conference, Mr. Grainger is put in charge of the department. Suddenly, the mild-mannered senior salesman becomes an iron-fisted dictator.

Once again we have a set of three episodes from this delightful British comedy, and this time the common ground is that, while the series is as always ensemble comedy, each episode focuses on one member of the Grace Brothers staff.

In the first episode, it is Mrs. Slocombe's birthday and while she makes sure everyone knows it, she doesn't bargain on their figuring out how old she is.

In the second one, Captain Peacock, the very epitome of propriety even if he quite notices any exposed cleavage, is suspected of carrying on with Mr. Rumbold's secretary. By the time Mrs. Peacock appears, and the good Captain is put on trial by his fellow employees, you'll be laughing, you won't be able to help it. That is, assuming you do have a sense of humor.

And then, in the third episode, mild mannered Mr. Grainger is put in charge and becomes a tyrant. Of course, he does get his come-uppance and all ends well and hilariously.

I'll warn you now, this series can be addictive.

At at time when the only source of Brit-coms was the local PBS, this show was a staple. In fact, I think it's probably still being broadcast at times. While not quite the golden age of the show, these three episodes have all the things that made it seems terribly superior to many of the lower tier US comedies.

For instance there is sexual inuendo. Not terribly sophicated but Mrs. Slocombe's pussy makes many a double entendre. While not Out and Proud, John Inman's campy Mr. Humphries is always good for a chortle.

There's probably very little there that the average pre-teen won't get but it's actually pretty harmless compared to a lot of stuff that has made its way to television over the years.