Are You Being Served?

Are You Being Served?
Typical intertitle
GenreSitcom
Created by
Written by
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composerRonnie Hazlehurst
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series10
No. of episodes70 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerDavid Croft
Producers
  • David Croft
  • Harold Snoad
  • Bob Spiers
  • Martin Shardlow
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC1
Release8 September 1972 (1972-09-08) –
1 April 1985 (1985-04-01)
Related
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Are You Being Served? is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. Croft also served as executive producer and director. Michael Knowles and John Chapman also wrote certain episodes. Produced by the BBC,[1] the series starred Mollie Sugden, Trevor Bannister, Frank Thornton, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Arthur Brough, Nicholas Smith, Larry Martyn, Harold Bennett and Arthur English.

Set in London, the show follows the misadventures and mishaps of the staff and their regular rotating series of customers at the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments in the flagship department store of a fictional chain called Grace Brothers.

The series was broadcast on the BBC for ten series, totalling 69 episodes between 8 September 1972 and 1 April 1985 – including five Christmas specials. The sitcom proved a ratings hit with UK audiences, and gained international recognition when broadcast across several English-speaking countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States; the latter gaining it a loyal following when PBS television stations began airing reruns in the mid-1980s, along with other British sitcoms.

Are You Being Served? was one of several series predominate of the period that was adapted into a feature film release. It was adapted into the 1977 film of the same name and was also followed by the spin-off series Grace & Favour with the same main cast in 1991–1992. In 2004, it was ranked 20th in a television countdown of Britain's Best Sitcom.[2] A one-off episode with a new cast was created in 2016. Both the sitcom - including its pilot and Christmas specials - the spin-off and the film have since been released on DVD.

  1. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Are You Being Served? (1973–1985)". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Britain's Best Sitcom – Top 11 to 100". BBC. Retrieved 7 October 2013.