History
The idea of a spin-off was originally suggested by the cast of Are You Being Served? almost immediately after the original series ended in 1985. Lloyd and Croft liked the idea, but agreed that the department store format was exhausted and that any spin-off would require a change of location. Despite the enthusiasm of the original cast, it would be almost seven years before Lloyd and Croft brought them back to television.
The plot line that brought the cast from the store to the manor was considered remarkably topical, since it aired just a few months after the death of British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, who was revealed to have borrowed heavily against his own employees' pensions.
Grace and Favour was different from Are You Being Served? in that it involved a continuous story arc, with certain plot elements, such as the relationship between Mr. Humphries and Mavis Moulterd unfolding throughout each episode. This in turn allowed the series to involve more complex storylines and subplots, making it possible for returning guest stars and location shooting, which was never done on Are You Being Served?
The series name is a double play on words. A "grace and favour" is a home or other property, owned by a monarch but given to the use of a faithful retainer upon his retirement, such as the retired characters in this series. Grace is also the name of the owner of Grace Brothers, the fictional department store where the characters previously worked.
Read more about this topic: Grace & Favour
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)