Are You Being Served?

Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John Chapman. The idea for the show came from Lloyd's brief period in the early 1950s working at Simpsons of Piccadilly, a clothing store which traded for over 60 years until 1999.

The inspiration for the store has also been credited to Rossiters of Paignton department store from the time Lloyd and Croft spent there, and the former Clements of Watford.

Over the course of its 13-year run, only Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Wendy Richard and Nicholas Smith appeared in all 69 episodes, and all later featured in the sequel television series, Grace & Favour (also known as Are You Being Served? Again!). In 2004, Are You Being Served? came twentieth in "Britain's Best Sitcom".

In January 2010 the BBC screened the show's pilot programme (seen in colour for the first time since the early 1970s) alongside several tribute shows to the late actors who appeared in the series with BBC2 dedicating an entire night to the show.

Following the death of Trevor Bannister on 14 April 2011, Frank Thornton and Nicholas Smith are the only surviving members of the original regular cast.