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

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."

Loved this show growing up. It was shown on the local PBS each Saturday night. British comedies are so much fun. Are You Being Served? Is a wonderful show.

I have always loved quick and witty comedy and this is the epitome of that, not to mention the immature side of comedy with sexual innuendos. The best thing about this show is 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 the whole atmosphere of Grace Brothers was 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 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 forth. 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. That kind of childish, insignificant rebellion arises emotion in most anyone has we cheer on Mr. Lucas to find another way to avoid detection by his superiors.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.

I accidentally found this wonderful, funny, series on PBS in my area. I fell in love with the quirky characters and their hysterical antics. It is no longer showing in my area, so when I heard about this DVD I was so excited. Now I can watch it any time I want and each time I see an episode I laugh even harder than the first time. If you like British comedy which is colorful, and filled with hilarious characters, than this is the DVD for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

In the movie 'American League 2', at the end of the movie Lou is jumping up and down on his hospital bed, with some BBC TV program on that was supposed to keep him calm, yelling " I love this British ****!", This is one of the better series they ever made. This was made in a time when the British still had their stiff upper lips and cockiness over winning the Battle of Britain. Now they are just a PC nanny state with dismal, dark offerings.

Volume 1 is missing!I'm ordering it separately.Disappointed!...low rating!

Have been a long patron of "Grace Brothers" [Are You Being Served] Just as I was interesting another fan of good humor in watching this program....they stop showing it. What an injustice. It has the best of good healthy humor that could be enjoyed by anyone. Our loss of this programing is such a shame.

I just received the 7-disc set & have watched much of it. In addition to all episodes (34 in all) from the 1st 5 seasons, there is a terrific bonus disc with several retrospectives/documentaries on different members of the cast. It's entertaining to see them today & hear them relate stories from the show. The episodes themselves come through very well on DVD. I was pleasantly surprised by the picture quality. The color is vivid, and the picture is very sharp. You wouldn't know that you were watching a show from 25-30 years ago! Sound is also very good & clear. There are nice extras on the discs also such as trivia & navigation menus are great, giving fast access to your favorite episodes.

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).

Number 6 is not the shows but about Mrs. Solcombe, Miss Brahms and Mr. Humphries (my favourite). Other than that, I loved the set as it takes you from the first show in black and white, includes Christmas shows and all my favourite characters. Very glad I bought it.

Plays well and enjoying the laughs

This series is great. The DVDs are spectacular. Even today some of the jokes seem a bit racy. And maybe there would be some who get offended. But I find Are you Being Served? incredibly funny. The DVD collection is great. And I think the 7th DVD with a few interviews with the cast to be a great bonus. It's not much but it's nice to see them talk about the show and their careers. I am glad I decided to get the collection.