Search - Are You Being Served? Again! (The Complete Series) on DVD

"It's gone very organic"-Mr. Humphries

mwreview | Northern California, USA | 09/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am very happy that this adorable BBC series is now available on DVD. For fans of Are You Being Served?, Grace and Favour (known as AYBS? Again! in the USA) was a fun way to see Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms, Capt. Peacock, Mrs. Slocombe, and Mr. Rumbold together again. Yes, there are often the same old jokes like the stuck elevator and Capt. Peacocks womanizing, but the new setting brought a lot of freshness to the show. The Grace Bros. employees who stuck with the company until its closing (which, of course, does not include Mr. Lucas; Trevor Bannister probably would not have done this show anyway) receive, as their pension, a country manor house. They must abandon past titles (however reluctantly) and work together so that the manor house earns money. The best part of the series is the adorable character Mavis Moulterd, daughter of the gruff farmer of Millstone Manor (played by Fleur Bennett). As is customary, she shares the bed with the chef. Of course, with the staff quitting after meeting Mr. Rumbold, Mr. Humphries is given the chef's quarters. The sexual, but in a cute way, tension between Mavis and Mr. Humphries really makes the show. The rich colors of the countryside also make this series refreshing when compared to the monotonous store setting of AYBS? Plus, we finally get to see Mrs. Slocombe's pussy[cat]!

The DVD includes all 12 of the episodes that were originally aired on BBC in 1992-93. The first episode can also be found as an extra on the DVD set for seasons 6-10 of AYBS? The menu page is a little awkward to use when choosing an episode. To pick an individual episode, you click the arrow key on the DVD remote the number of times to correspond to the episode number on the disc (i.e. 5 times to get episode #5). Other than that, the shows play great. The extras include cast bios (only a list of T.V. and film appearances which was disappointing) and trailers of other BBC shows. I wish there was more on the history of the series. For more on this show, see volume 7 of the first AYBS? DVD box set where John Inman talks a little bit about it in an interview. Lack of extras aside, if you like the characters of AYBS?, you will like AYBS? Again!
"

Like visiting old friends

Martin Mulcahey | 09/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Seeing the characters (minus Mr. Lucas and the maintenance personel like Harmon) back in action is like finding an old friend after 20 years abscense. The faces might have changed but the personalities remain the same. Highly recommended."

An amazing comeback

jmy9595 | Eagan, MN, USA | 09/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show didn't get the time or funding it needed from the BBC to develop as fully as it could've with even another 6-12 episodes. They were clearly building toward a marriage between Mr. Humphries and Mavis, which would clearly have been a marriage of inconvenience. But the series was cut short before they got there. John Inman even indicated that the cast would have leapt at filming a few more episodes if an independent production company had come along after the BBC backed out, but it didn't happen and we're now long past that window of opprotunity. Billy Burden ("Mr. Moulterd, M-O-U-L-... We know...") passed away a while back and Mollie Sugden and Frank Thornton are both into their 80s now.

Many classic moments here for even a 12-episode run. The hokey harvest dance brought back many impromptu Grace Bros. production numbers. Mrs. Slocombe turns up in court dressed head to toe in black only to be told by Mr. Humphries that "it's only a country court, it's not Nuremberg." I'll never lose the site of the Millstone Manor gang cleaning the sheets either. We also get some background on Mrs. Slocombe's youth when she was a "great big, walloping land girl" evacuated to the country."

The further adventures of the Grace Bros. staff

Jeanne Tassotto | Trapped in the Midwest | 08/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ARE YOU BEING SERVED? AGAIN! (aka GRACE & FAVOUR) follows the adventures of the Grace Bros. Dept. Store staff of ARE YOU BEING SERVED fame. Young Mr. Grace has finally passed on, under some rather remarkable circumstances, and has invested the Grace Bros. pension fund in some unconventional ways. The beneficiaries of the scheme are those loyal employees who remained with the store until closing day - Mr. Rumpold, Capt. Peacock, Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms and Mr. Grace's 'nurse du jour' Miss Lovelock. The staff learns that their pensions will keep them just off the dole and that their primary asset is Millstone Manor, a country bed and breakfast held in trust with Mr. Rumpold as manager. When they arrive to inspect the property they find the establishment in a shambles and Miss Lovelock in permanent residence. The group decides to run the manor with the aid of Mr. Moulterd, the home farm manager and his daughter Mavis.

As with the original series there are a series of running gags, some carried over from the original series. Mr. Rumpbold is still an incompetent bore, Capt. Peacock a skirt chaser, Mrs. Slocombe still fusses over her pussy, Miss Brahms continues to have things 'get up her nose' and Mr. Humphries' mother continues to supervise him from a distance. While still an ensemble piece the focus is very much on Humphries and his relationship with Mavis Moulterd. While still very much 'neither here nor there' the two share a bed and many clever double entenderes.

This series is as hilarious as the original series. We are treated to glimpses into some more of their lives and would probably had gotten more had the series continued. Sadly the series only ran 12 episodes, long before it considered all its possibilities. I would have liked to learn what happened to some of the other Grace Bros. staff, (Mr. Harmon, Mr. Lucas and others) and find out what happened to Peacock and Rumpold's wives. There was still lots to be said about Mr. Humphries and Mavis, Capt. Peacock and Miss Lovelock and Mrs. Slocombe and Mr. Moulterd.

I would recommend this to fans of the original series and also to those of TO THE MANOR BORN."