If you like your humour subtle, sophisticated or avant garde, then don't watch Are You Being Served. Written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd who between them were also responsible for the likes of 'Allo allo and It Ain't Half Hot Mum, this is British humour designed for a British audience. That means infantile situations overloaded with telegraphed jokes both visual and verbal, overt gender and racial stereotyping involving underdressed bimbos and silly foreigners and, lashings of suggestive innuendo. And we love it. Whether it's Mrs Slocombe's hair colour variations or concerns about her "pussy", Mr Humphries' camp remarks and mincing gait or Miss Belfridge asking Captain Peacock if he thinks her new bra is too small. It's like a wedding list. Mostly old, little new, everything borrowed and frequently blue! Think about it; the series ended in 1985, all of the main cast are dead and it's still being shown on T V to appreciative audiences in January 2020. Doubt we'll be able to say that about Better Things or Mum in 35 years time!
Review of Are You Being Served?
