Are You Being Served? The Complete Collection (Series 1-14 Volumes)

Buy This Item Are You Being Served? The Complete Collection (Series 1-14 Volumes)  List Price: $199.98  Available from Amazon  $111.99  on 11-28-2008     Features Actors: John Inman, Taryn Kay, Eileen Winterton Directors: David Croft, Martin Shardlow, Harold Snoad, John Kilby, Mike Stevens (II) Format: Box set, DVD-Video, Color, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 14 Rating: Studio: BBC Warner DVD Release Date: September 7, 2004 Run Time: 2070 minutes Average Customer Review:   69 Reviews 5 star:  (61) 4 star:  (6) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0) See all 69 customer reviews...   (69 customer reviews) Reader Reviews Ten series of this classic Britcom were produced between 1973-1985, and all sixty-nine 30-minute episodes, including the black-and-white pilot and the Christmas specials (positioned chronologically in the order originally broadcast), are here in one boxed set. 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 pussy--cat that is! Her junior is sexy Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard), who is constantly fighting off the advances of the menswear junior, Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister, who left the show after series seven due to a scheduling conflict). From series eight on, Mr. Spooner (Mike Berry--a former singer) takes over as the new menswear junior, flirting with Miss Brahms and insulting Mrs. Slocombe at every opportunity! The menswear department is headed by curmudgeonly old Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough, who died (aged 73) following series five). In between him and Mr. Lucas is the flamboyant Mr. Humphreys (John Inman). With his mincing gait, outrageous costumes, and familiar cry of "I'm free," he's my personal favourite--though the whole cast really is terrific! 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 Peacock does too!). Of the four actors who temporarily took over the role of department head following Brough's death, my favourite is Alfie Bass, who played shrewd Mr. Goldberg, himself an ex-army man, and from whom we glean a lot more about Corporal--I mean Captain--Peacock than Peacock would care to have known! Then there is Mr. Rumbold, the bald-pated, jug-eared department manager (like Mollie Sugden, Nicholas Smith was very good-natured in allowing his physical appearance to be the basis of so much humour!). Finally, there is Young Mr. Grace, the elderly and extremely frail but hilariously lustful store owner (Harold Bennett, who died of a heart attack in 1981 following series eight, was 74 when the series began!). There are two discs of DVD extras, the first of which consists 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, and remembrances from fellow actors. The final feature is "Are You Being Confused?", a text-based dictionary of British slang. The second disc contains two features which have appeared as PBS specials over the years: Firstly, there is the 75-minute "The Best of Are You Being Served?", which is hosted by Mr. Humphreys and his mother (both played by John Inman, of course!), and which contains snippets of some of the funniest moments in the series. Secondly is the lovely 90-minute profile of Mollie Sugden (2002), which also contains snippets from the shows she's been in and remembrances from fellow actors, yet it doesn't entirely duplicate the other profile. Also included is the first episode of the 1992 sequel, "Are You Being Served? Again!". 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--a real Britcom classic!  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)

Are You Being Served? The Complete Collection (Series 1-14 Volumes) List Price: $199.98 Available from Amazon Price: $111.99 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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