Grace & Favour

Plot

The series begins with the staff of Grace Bros returning to the store to read the will of Young Mr Grace, the former head of the department store, recently deceased while scuba diving on holiday in the Caribbean with his personal secretary, Miss Jessica Lovelock. Young Mr Grace had invested their pension funds in a multitude of antiquated businesses, the largest of which is a country manor house called Millstone Manor. The will stipulates that they cannot sell the house and split the profits, but can use the property in the manner of their choosing.

After a trip to Millstone Manor to view the property, the staff discover that Mr Rumbold caused the Millstone Manor staff to leave, due to his excellent managerial skills, and that Miss Lovelock, given accommodation in the grooms' quarters and charge of the horses, also lives at the manor. In addition, the staff learn that their pensions are minuscule. As a result, the staff decide to live in the manor in order to run it as an inn and live off the proceeds.

Meanwhile, Mr Humphries is forced by circumstance to share a bed with Mavis, the daughter of the manor's farmer, and finds that she develops a crush on him. Mrs Slocombe discovers that the manor's uncouth farmer, Maurice Moulterd, is a former lover from the war years, and tries to insist that the relationship never happened, while Captain Peacock is keen to pursue a relationship with Miss Lovelock, despite their difference in age.

Cast

Main

Mollie Sugden as Mrs Betty Slocombe

John Inman as Mr Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries

Wendy Richard as Miss Shirley Brahms

Frank Thornton as Captain Stephen Peacock

Nicholas Smith as Mr Cuthbert Rumbold

Fleur Bennett as Mavis Moulterd

Joanne Heywood as Jessica Lovelock

Billy Burden as Maurice Moulterd

Recurring

Michael Bilton as Mr Thorpe

Shirley Cheriton as Miss Prescott

Gregory Cox as Mr Frobisher

Andrew Barclay as Malcolm Heathcliff

Diane Holland as Celia Littlewood

Andy Joseph as Joseph Lee

Eric Dodson as Sir Robert

Maggie Holland as Mrs Cleghampton

Episodes

Production

Background

The idea of a spin-off was suggested by the cast of Are You Being Served? almost immediately after the original series ended in 1985. Writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft liked the idea, believing it to be, as Croft stated in 1999, a "marvellous sort of sequel" to the original series, but they agreed, along with the cast, that the department store format was exhausted and that any spin-off would require a change of location. Despite the enthusiasm of the original cast, it was almost seven years before Lloyd and Croft brought them back to television. Public demand necessitated the production of the new series. Most of the original cast were able to return easily, with the exception of Wendy Richard, who had since joined the television soap opera EastEnders (1985–present); she requested permission to be temporarily written out of that programme so she could reprise her role of Miss Brahms. The cast were enthusiastic to be involved in the programme, enjoying being able to film scenes on location.

The series aired a few months after the death of British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, who was revealed to have borrowed heavily against his own employees' pensions, in a similar vein to what Young Mr Grace does in the series. The first episode of Series 2, "The Gun", contains a number of satirical references to the wrongful conviction and hanging of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman. The case revolved around the issue of whether Bentley's words "Let him have it, Chris" to his associate Christopher Craig were meant literally ("Let him have the gun") or figuratively ("Open fire!"). The case was widely publicised and was the subject of a film titled Let Him Have It starring Christopher Eccleston, that was released in October 1991, three months before "The Gun" was broadcast.

Grace & Favour is different from Are You Being Served? in that it involves a continuous story arc, with certain plot elements, such as the relationship between Mr Humphries and Mavis Moulterd, unfolding throughout each episode. This in turn allowed the series to involve more complex storylines and subplots, making it possible to include returning guest stars and location shooting, neither of which was done on Are You Being Served?.

The title of the series is a double play on words. A "grace and favour" is a home or other property owned by a monarch, government or other owner, but given to the use of a faithful retainer upon retirement, as with the retired characters in the series. "Grace" is the surname of the founder and owner of Grace Brothers (the fictional department store where the characters previously worked) who was also the previous owner of Millstone Manor.

Casting

The main cast included the five actors and characters who appeared in every episode of Are You Being Served?: John Inman (Mr Humphries), Mollie Sugden (Mrs Slocombe), Frank Thornton (Captain Peacock), Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms) and Nicholas Smith (Mr Rumbold). New regular cast members included Joanne Heywood, who previously appeared in the Mike Stephens-directed First of the Summer Wine (1988–89), portraying Miss Lovelock; Billy Burden, who portrayed farmer Maurice Moulterd; and Fleur Bennett, who played his daughter, Mavis. Several new recurring characters were added to the show, including Michael Bilton as Mr Grace's solicitor, Mr Thorpe, and his assistant, Miss Prescott, played by Shirley Cheriton. Christine Gernon, who served as production assistant on the series, recalled that Heywood and Bennett "fitted in really well" with the original cast members, while the "cast got on so well; they were just all so pleased to be back together."

Of the other surviving Are You Being Served? cast members who either left or joined the cast during the programme’s run, only Trevor Bannister (Mr Lucas) was reportedly asked to join Grace & Favour, but declined. In a 1999 documentary, Bannister stated that he "didn't feel [the series] worked at all", believing that "you can't just take that group, because it's a successful formula, and just move it somewhere else". Mike Berry, who portrayed Mr Spooner for the last three series of Are You Being Served?, was not asked to appear in the sequel series, though stated that he would have if he was asked. Berry recalled that Arthur English, who portrayed Mr Harman, was retired by that stage, and therefore was in "no position to return".

Throughout the series, Inman's character, Mr Humphries, is required by circumstance to share a bed with Mavis Moulterd, the farmer's daughter. Despite the media and fans of the series believing the character to be homosexual, Inman stated in 1999 that "[he couldn't] see how he could be gay when he spent most of Grace & Favour in bed with a beautiful blonde called Fleur Bennett". Croft and Perry explained that they wrote the scenario involving Mr Humphries sharing his bed with the farmer's daughter because they did not want him to be, as Perry stated, "thought of as a man who couldn't have a girlfriend". In addition, Croft stated that they "never wrote him" as being homosexual.

Filming

All external filming for the series was undertaken in and around Tetbury in Gloucestershire. Primary filming was at Chavenage House, which was used for Millstone Manor, just outside Tetbury. Indoor filming was recorded in front of a live studio audience. Production assistant Christine Gernon recalled that neither Croft nor Lloyd were present often for the filming of the series, in part due to the series being one of the few not to be produced or directed by Croft himself.

Cancellation

In a 1993 interview on American television, Inman recalled that "the BBC axed it in their wisdom, and it was a case of 'No, we're not doing anymore'". Inman was "a bit distressed" by the series's cancellation, because Lloyd had approached him and explained the storyline for the third series, in which a wedding was to be arranged for Mr Humphries and Mavis Moulterd, whereby Inman would portray Mr Humphries's mother in a dual role (as he had in the original series). Mavis would instead choose to run off with a village boy; Mr Humphries would be heartbroken, falling into Mrs Slocombe's arms, much to her delight. Heywood stated that, when news was received that the series had been cancelled, it "hit the original cast members even harder than us newer characters", resulting in the cast members "los[ing] touch" with each other. Heywood stated that the series was cancelled due to it "just [not being] his cup of tea", referring to the then-BBC1 Controller, Alan Yentob. The series was the last written by Lloyd and Croft together.

International broadcasts

In the United States, the series was broadcast on PBS member stations as Are You Being Served? Again! in 1992. The first series was broadcast on WNEO from 13 July to 20 July 1992 at 11:00 pm, each weeknight; the whole six episodes were screened via television marathon on 18 July, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

John Inman was a "bit upset" that the "much more sensible" American title, Are You Being Served? Again!, was not used in the UK, believing that the American title would have helped the show to have "a ready-made audience" as it did in the US.

In Australia, both series were broadcast consecutively from January to April 1994, airing at 8:00 pm on CTC and Network Ten, after a repeat episode of Are You Being Served?.

Home media releases

The series, under the title Are You Being Served? Again!, was first released in the United States on 7 September 2004 by BBC Warner. It was later released in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment on 14 May 2009, under the Grace & Favour title. The series was subsequently released for the first time in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2016 by Eureka Entertainment.

Reception

The Evening Standard's Victor Lewis-Smith, writing midway through the second series on 26 January 1993, was critical of the series and its humour, stating that it "makes 'Allo 'Allo look like Beckett", citing another of Croft and Lloyd's television sitcoms that had ended the previous year. Lewis-Smith wrote that, rather than being a comedy programme, the series is "more your funny aunts and uncles doing a routine at the Christmas party", and believed that the only way to enjoy the series would be if you "feel well-disposed towards the actors". In a 1999 documentary, Inman stated that the characters "slightly lost [their] way" in the series, owing to the loss of "[their] pecking order, because no one was anyone's boss because we'd all retired, and there was no threat. And you can't really do good comedy without a threat".

The British Comedy Guide praised the series, stating that the scripts were typical of a Croft and Lloyd series, consisting of "rip-roaring innuendo, gag-packed scripts and daft adventures aplenty – with the odd genial national stereotype for good measure". The Guide wrote that Are You Being Served? fans would "enjoy the continued adventures in the country" of the original characters, while the new characters introduced for the series worked "perfectly". The Guide concluded by stating that the series "is more tightly-plotted than its parent, bringing refreshed life into the characters with their new setting and problems to surmount".