Grace & Favour

The idea of a spin-off was 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.[1] 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.
Cast.

So was it a good spinoff?

Should have bought it on DVD when I was in Australia. Can't recall a lot of it, apart from the fact the cast and I had aged since AYBS, so it wasn't the coolest show on TV. Seem to recall the farmer as stereotypically dumb, and vulgar (a replacement for the maintenance man, Mr Harman?) and didn't understand why his sexy daughter fancied Mr Humphries.

Very apt title for a sitcom that followed the ingrained tradition of giving a free multiseries commission to writers of a previous hit as a way of saying thanks, for saving us the bother of having to look for anyone else to take a chance on.

I wonder how many good potential sitcoms the BBC spurned with this system? A good few I'd guess at.

I wish they had more episodes in this series.

Having recently complete a full 10-series rewatch of Are You Being Served? and the film, I've finally moved on to Grace & Favour. It's the first time I've seen the series, and am loving it. Really funny.

Quote: Aaron @ 27th March 2016, 10:51 PM BST

Having recently complete a full 10-series rewatch of Are You Being Served? and the film, I've finally moved on to Grace & Favour. It's the first time I've seen the series, and am loving it. Really funny.

You do suffer for your art don't you Aaron.

I vaguely remember this but didn't see much of it.

Suffer - at times, certainly. But this has been an absolute joy!

I remember enjoying this back in the day, but probably haven't seen it since it first aired. Given that Croft and Lloyd are behind it, I shouldn't tip toe too tentatively around revisiting it.

How was it received at the time?

As is ever the case with studio sitcoms - and funny ones in particular - it was destroyed by the press, but AFAIK did fairly well with the public. Its end seems to have come down to changing fashions at the BBC.

Quote: Aaron @ 27th March 2016, 10:51 PM BST

Having recently complete a full 10-series rewatch of Are You Being Served? and the film, I've finally moved on to Grace & Favour. It's the first time I've seen the series, and am loving it. Really funny.

My favourite episode is the one where they think the manor is haunted; I believe it's also the same one where they take the group picture for the brochure. Gonna' have to rewatch this series some time...

Of course, over here it was titled Are You Being Served? Again! They used to play it on rare occasions during PBS fundraisers, and that was the only time you could see it before it became available on DVD.

I found this rejigging of AYBS characters in a totally different setting very refreshing. Unlike its popular predecessor it did not last too long. Having said that, I would have liked it to run for another season or two.Laughing out loud

Quote: comedymania @ 10th June 2018, 4:12 AM

I would have liked it to run for another season or two.

I agree. An episode, or indeed more, where one of the former juniors Mssrs Lucas or Spooner turning up at the hotel on a honeymoon or something would've been interesting.

Last night, I watched the very first episode of Grace & Favour. It was fantastic, so very funny. As a huge fan of Are You Being Served? to watch this spin-off was really great.

One of the best parts of the episode was the lift in the hotel, an homage to the lift in the store all them years earlier.

Is it only available on DVD/Blu Ray? We watched the AYBS film on Britbox a few months ago; it was cheesy, but funny.

I think Grace & Favour is available on Apple Tv and to buy on YouTube. I like the AYBS film, its a good reminder of how popular ABYS was at the time.