Are You Being Served? Again! (The Complete Series)

As delightful as it was, the dated Grace Brothers Department Store set has been replaced by an English Manor. All of the old familiars are there along with some wonderful new characters. The earthy Morris Moultered (Billy Burden), his innocent "milk maid" daughter (Fleur Bennett), the forgetful corporate lawyer (Michael Bilton), and a feisty young lady (Joanne Heywood) who inhered the "groom's quarters" - make their appearances in these new adventures of the now-retired Grace Bros Staff. Unlike the old series, this one has a continuing story line that includes "fillers from the past" - Mr. Slocumbe makes an appearance, and we learn of Mrs. Slocomb's antics in her youth. Mr. Moultered, played by the quirky Billy Burden is still smitten with Mrs. Slocomb in their earlier years when he knew her as "the Tiverton bicycle....". The court scene - after Mrs. Slocomb "steals a gypsy cart" - has so much sidebar humor - it's worth watching several times. Add a rather unconventional Cricket match, a pub dart game, a village "Ripley type" museum, and you have a wonderfully balanced serving of British comedy that'll lift your spirits - just like the good old AYBS. Now, some may object to the abundance of double entendres sprinkled throughout the dialogue; however, it's all done in character and "borderline good taste". The country settings are nothing short of picturesque and charming - thanks to the excellent technical crew. The sound track is clear AND in stereo! All said - this is a fitting reunion for our favorite department store sales staff. John, Wendy, Nicholas, Mollie, and Frank - bravo! Oh, and Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Croft, thank you for serving us again. Fives Stars? Yes!

Excellent, very funny. As good as the original.

It was several years after the comedy series "Are You Being Served?" ended with a long and successful run on British TV. Even though our beloved cast of characters has visibly aged, the storyline picks up immediately after the closing of Grace Brothers Department Store. They have come together again to find out how the late Mr. Grace handled their retirement money. Not very well apparently, as the crew inherits a broken down country mansion in place of their much deserved pensions. As Mrs.Slocombe puts it, "We were diddled!" They hit upon the notion of opening the mansion to the general public as a bed and breakfast with the intent of not only "copping the lolly" from their guests, but enjoying free room and board for themselves. The series ran for just a single season. And, while it has more charm then belly laughs, if you watched the entire Are You Being Served? series, your genuine love for its characters and the actors who played them is more than enough to make you want still more episodes of Are You Being Served, Again? It is a wonderful reprise of our beloved cast of characters and perhaps the finest comedians Britain has ever produced. Their timing was always spot on. Considering how long Are You Being Served? ran on PBS TV and the enthusiastic reception always given to John Inman and Mollie Sugden when they appeared live on PBS, it is apparent we yanks came to love the entire cast as much, if not more, then our British cousins. If you already own Are You Being Served? on DVD, please buy the redux series. You will not regret it. Besides, your collection would not be, otherwise, complete! The series was named Grace and Favour in Britain.

“Are You Being Served? Again” (also known as “Grace & Favour” in England) is the little known sequel to the classic Britcom “Are You Being Served?” The premise is this: following the death of Young Mr. Grace, it is revealed that he squandered away the pension fund, and the only thing left for the long-suffering staff of the Grace Brothers’ mens and ladies wear department is an old English mansion that serves as a hotel which the staff is given ownership of and allowed to run as they see fit in an attempt to make enough profit to finally retire on. Reprising their roles are Mollie Sugen as Mrs. Slocombe, Frank Thornton as Captain Peacock, John Inman as Mr. Humphries, Wendy Richard as Ms. Brahms, and Nicholas Smith as Mr. Rumbold. While the actors are all a little older, they appear to have effortlessly slipped back into their old characters and are as funny as ever. To round out the cast are a handful of newcomers, including Joanne Heywood as Ms. Lovelock who doesn’t offer much in the way of comedy but is a stunningly beautiful woman who serves as a love interest for Captain Peacock who is presumably no longer married as there is never any mention of Mrs. Peacock; Billy Burden as the hilarious Mr. Moulterd, the hotel farmer and groundskeeper who seems incapable of speaking in anything other than a shout; and, finally, Fleur Bennett as Mavis Moulterd, the adorable and hardworking farmer’s daughter who any man would love to bring home to meet his mom. The show was filmed on location at an English farm, and It’s nice to see the Grace Brothers staff outside the confines of the mens and ladies wear department where new comedic opportunities are offered, and there are a number of moments that will have you laughing out loud, but the show never really took full advantage of its new setting, and even with just two short seasons, it’s clear the writers were already running out of ideas and starting to repeat themselves. Of the 12 episodes that make up the series are two “horror” episodes, two in which the staff are challenged by the locals to a sporting contest (cricket in one, and darts in another), and two in which the staff must put together a last minute song and dance performance for hotel guests after the local talent proves inadequate. “Are You Being Served? Again” is very cozy and enjoyable, and while it never reaches the heights of its predecessor, there is still enough here to delight fans of the original series. This set contains the entire series on two DVDs with six episodes each. The special features are very lean, consisting of brief text-only biographies of the actors, and while there is closed captioning, there are no subtitles, so you’ll need a DVD player with a closed captioning decoder to take advantage of them.

If you liked first series you will like this

I stumbled across the BBC television show 'Are You Being Served?' decades ago. The humor is baseline, but the characters are what make the show come alive to the viewer. Later on, I discovered they had extended the show into a sequel entitled, 'Are You Being Served? Again!' The majority of the ensemble cast returns, along with new characters added for additional 'frivolity'. Since the sequel is based at an English manor on a farm, there is outdoor filming - which adds an additional flavor to the program. The jokes (both verbal and sight gags) are still the backbone of this series. You will find yourself smiling and laughing out loud at the situations the cast finds themselves involved in. Worthy of your time and money.

Sequel-ish to AYBS that’s just as funny as the original

I really enjoyed the first series and really happy to watch this conclusion to the team. Very funny. Glad to see them in a different environment.

Excelente

The loveable cast of Are You Being Served? take to a beautiful pastoral setting as Young Mr. Grace finally passes and the staff retire. Mollie, John, Wendy and Frank (Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms, Captain Peacock) go to a country Tudor Manor, managed by Nicholas (Mr. Rum bold). They learn that their pensions are invested in the Manor, which is a weekend tourist hotel. There's an attached home farm and fields. Deciding to live there and work as the staff (that Mr. Rumbold had run off) they begin their new lives as working retired persons. Two standout characters are added, Billy Burden as farmer Morris Moleturd and his beautiful daughter Mavis played by Fleur Bennett. The show is a wonderful mix of nostalgia for AYBS? fans coupled with comedy as these well known characters begin to find their way in their new surroundings. Beautiful surroundings and funny episodes make for a great DVD set.

Excellent

This great series seems to have been forgotten about and I think that that is wrong, Are You Being Served Again? or Grace and Favour is as good as the original series. After the closing of the store Grace Bros most of the original cast are called back to discuss their pension fund and find out that Young Mr Grace has invested it in a country inn. Mr Humphries, Mrs Slocumbe, Captain Peacock, Miss Brahms and Mr Rumbold have to run the country inn. This series is really very good and very, very funny. It's a shame that this DVD is only available on region 1 and not region 2. However this series really is good and fans of the original show, will really, really like this!

This arrived quickly and in perfect condition