0:00:20 > 0:00:27What do Mollie Sugden, Joanna Lumley, EastEnders and the Munich Olympics have in common?
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Guessed it?
0:00:29 > 0:00:33# ..Perfumery, Stationery and Leather Goods... #
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Yes. The answer is Are You Being Served?
0:00:39 > 0:00:43We're off on a journey through 40 years of comedy -
0:00:43 > 0:00:48charting the careers of the best of the golden age of sitcom.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52From Hancock's Half Hour to 'Allo 'Allo and beyond.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Are You Being Served was born when, in 1969,
0:00:57 > 0:01:04BBC comedy producer David Croft met fellow writer Jeremy Lloyd for the first time.
0:01:04 > 0:01:11Our story begins when Lloyd was known for playing chinless toffs on an American comedy show.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14# Here comes the Judge Here comes the Judge
0:01:14 > 0:01:17# Order in the courtroom Here comes the Judge. #
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Dan Rowan and...Dick Martin.
0:01:20 > 0:01:28After Rowan And Martin's Laugh-in, Lloyd fell in love with an English rose and said goodbye to America.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Really I think what persuaded me to write Are You Being Served?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36was Joanna Lumley, my friend and ex-wife, said,
0:01:36 > 0:01:41"You've run out of money, you've come back from America.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44"Why not write about something you really know about?
0:01:44 > 0:01:49"How about your time at Simpson's in Piccadilly?"
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Meanwhile, David Croft was producing a show
0:01:55 > 0:01:59as influential in Britain as Laugh-in was in America.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I am wearing a toupee.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06A wig, if that makes it any clearer.
0:02:06 > 0:02:12So if any of you want a good laugh, at my expense, now's your chance.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Cos I'm going to show it to you.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24While Dad's Army was going from strength to strength,
0:02:24 > 0:02:29It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling needed expert help.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33David Croft worked on the scripts and met Jeremy Lloyd,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36appearing with wife Joanna Lumley.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41The Croft and Lloyd partnership was to last longer than the marriage.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45I think, while we were doing that,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48he told me of a show in a department store.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53In fact, he had written it as a gentleman's department
0:02:53 > 0:02:56because he had experience of that.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I thought it'd be fun for them to share the department,
0:03:00 > 0:03:05so there was conflict, and Are You Being Served? was born.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08The pilot script was written in three days.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13For Jeremy, it was easier than measuring inside legs for a living,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16though not always as pleasurable.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21- The lift operator should be here to help us move. - Never mind! Come along.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29- Oh, Miss Brahms!- What? - Pull your skirt down!
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Some of them were at Simpson's, yes. The Captain Peacocks were there.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Mrs Slocombes were in a department.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43Slightly more upmarket Mrs Slocombes but the same. Mr Humphries was there.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Croft and Lloyd found their perfect Captain Peacock
0:03:47 > 0:03:51in an actor displaying his tail feathers in Steptoe And Son
0:03:51 > 0:03:55and Hancock's most famous half hour.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- Do you come here often? - This is my 12th time.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01There's no need to boast!
0:04:01 > 0:04:05- How much did you give to the Arab refugees?- Oh, really!
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Come on. You're shouting about how much blood you've given.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13- How much did you give to refugees? - I gave £5.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Oh, well, there you are. I mean...
0:04:17 > 0:04:21'I was known as a useful type, you know.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23'I'd do one episode of that.'
0:04:23 > 0:04:27I didn't make a fortune but worked regularly -
0:04:27 > 0:04:29supporting my wife and daughter.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34But then, Are You Being Served? came along.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40Suddenly Frank Thornton disappears and there's Captain Peacock.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I'm afraid the whole occasion just...overcame us.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Can we have a little more decorum, please?
0:04:48 > 0:04:55In 1962, David Croft's first comedy caper was Hugh And I, with Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58The girl in the crash helmet
0:04:58 > 0:05:01would soon own the most famous pussy in comedy.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- We're going to the coast.- Brighton?
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Nothing so common.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Hove.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14I thought Mollie'd be marvellous as the frosty lady behind the counter.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17People come in for that reason -
0:05:17 > 0:05:21you know them and they'll make a great job of it.
0:05:21 > 0:05:27He said, "Oh, there's something we've written with you in mind."
0:05:27 > 0:05:29I said, "Ooh, what is it?" He said,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33"You'll know. You'll get the script quite soon."
0:05:33 > 0:05:37In about two weeks I got Are You Being Served?
0:05:38 > 0:05:44From the DM stroke CR to FW stroke L&GD stroke SP, RE: T.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Captain Peacock? What language are you speaking?
0:05:48 > 0:05:52After the old battleaxe, the handsome hunk.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Rummaging around in the ITV hit The Dustbinmen,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Croft got his hands on Trevor Bannister.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- Hey, Mam!- What?- The Dustbinmen!
0:06:03 > 0:06:08It was enormously popular - 21.5 million viewers on its first episode
0:06:08 > 0:06:11and maintained that for 21 episodes.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17Never been done before or since. It's in the Guinness Book Of Records.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19I'm like Winston Churchill, you see.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Naturally brilliant, but no good at exams.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Or, to put it another way...
0:06:25 > 0:06:31- I'm just ignorant.- Mr Breathing, I don't care about ignorance.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Give us a bit of pigging bliss!
0:06:34 > 0:06:39I went down to the famous Gerry's club, which is where all of us go,
0:06:39 > 0:06:44and I bumped into a man called David Croft whom I'd not met before.
0:06:44 > 0:06:51He said, "I'm glad I've met you. I have a script for a pilot and I want you to do it."
0:06:51 > 0:06:53I said, "Oh, well. Great, fine."
0:06:53 > 0:06:57I read it and, er...thought it very amusing.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Croft added little-known actors Nicholas Smith,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04John Inman and Wendy Richard to make the gang complete.
0:07:04 > 0:07:11The pilot was recorded and they waited for Are You Being Served? to debut in the Comedy Playhouse.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16If the ratings were good, and the management liked it, it was on.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18The BBC didn't like the pilot.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23They disliked it so much, that when the series of short plays
0:07:23 > 0:07:28called Comedy Playhouse was on, they didn't show it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33And then they had a disaster at the Olympic Games in Munich,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36where there was a terrible tragedy.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40They suddenly had blank screens, they needed something,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44and somebody reached for the nearest show - Are You Being Served?
0:07:44 > 0:07:51They put it on, 19 million people saw it and sufficient numbers of them absolutely loved it.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And we took off from that.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00It got such a reaction, they said, "We'll book this one for a series."
0:08:00 > 0:08:02And that was it.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05But that wasn't quite it.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10The BBC were unsure about giving Grace Brothers their custom.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13One of the staff was causing a problem.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16- Camping! - I beg your pardon...
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Bill Cotton, running the BBC, said,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22"The show's wonderful, get rid of the poof."
0:08:22 > 0:08:25And I thought, which one's that? "John Inman."
0:08:25 > 0:08:31I said, "He's a sissy. He's a bit of a mother's boy and he walks funny."
0:08:31 > 0:08:36But it never occurred to me that he was overtly a homosexual.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47I said, "Bill, there's no show without a poof. It's vital."
0:08:47 > 0:08:52And David is reputed to have said, "Well, if the poof goes, I go!"
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The poof stayed.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59The poof stayed, Are You Being Served? opened for business
0:08:59 > 0:09:04and audiences flocked to it like the first day of the Harrods sale.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10There was no honeymoon period before we really got up and running on the first series after the pilot.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16Sometimes you get a mix of actors and it might take them two series,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19even longer when you've got a largish cast,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23for them to really know each other, to trust each other.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And...that wasn't the case with us.
0:09:26 > 0:09:32- Morning Mrs Slocombe, Miss Brahms. - Captain Peacock.- One minute late.
0:09:32 > 0:09:38You're lucky to have me at all, Captain Peacock. I had to thaw me pussy out before I came.
0:09:38 > 0:09:44When they came to a scene they knew how to work on it, to rehearse it,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47where the laughs were, timing.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51It took 70 million years to build resources of coal and oil.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- In the space of 70 short years, man has ravished them.- Typical of men!
0:09:57 > 0:10:00The fact is, we cannot get enough.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02BOTH: True.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07They knew how to play an audience and hear the reaction
0:10:07 > 0:10:12and it's a great art. They were absolute masters at it.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17Keeping men interested in shopping was Wendy Richard as Miss Brahms.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Leggy, lippy - a saucy seaside postcard come to life.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23You've got a problem there.
0:10:23 > 0:10:29- Well, you men should know. - We haven't got the same problem.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33I remember at work saying something about, "I'm the sex symbol"
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and John Inman said, "No, it's me."
0:10:36 > 0:10:40And I believed him. But, if you saw the fan mail and stuff I got...
0:10:40 > 0:10:44I was so thick - Wendy, not Miss Brahms -
0:10:44 > 0:10:50that I didn't realise, you know, to a load of Americans and other chaps,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Miss Brahms really was quite a sex symbol.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56And I never realised.
0:10:56 > 0:11:02Wendy had previously been in ITV's Please Sir! and On The Buses
0:11:02 > 0:11:07and was also the first Essex girl in ancient Rome.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Soppia! Please! Leave him alone, the young master.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16I know where he hasn't been. Now, find your straws and get out.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20- I've still got them on. - Straws, not drawers!
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Ooh, she is common! She really is.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29- Oh, you mean those straws. - Straws, yes. Come on, then.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33- Here you are. Having another raffle? - What?- Raffle.- Yes.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38This time you aren't the prize! Oh, dear, poor soul.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43What a weight to carry all day.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Wendy had also appeared in Dad's Army and The Likely Lads.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52Her earliest link with Croft was an episode of Hugh And I, now lost.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57It began her comedy partnership with Mollie Sugden.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02I think it was probably one of her first jobs. She was very young.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06And, er...so we had a little basis to start with.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10She was wonderful to be behind the counter with.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14We spent a lot of time behind that counter.
0:12:14 > 0:12:21Mostly, if you're not doing a scene on television, you just go away and chat.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24You couldn't in Are You Being Served?,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29because there was a chance they would see you in the background.
0:12:29 > 0:12:36You had to be behind the counter. I can't think of anyone I'd rather be behind a counter with than Wendy.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41She was so interesting, and fascinating, and, er...great fun.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47So...and there was a slight mother and daughter feeling about it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50There still is a bit.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I-I still...worry about her and...
0:12:54 > 0:12:57..want the best for her.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02By the third series the show had entered the national consciousness
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and workplaces would ring with, "I'm free!"
0:13:06 > 0:13:12Everyone had a favourite. A number rooted for big-ears in the office.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- Everything down, Miss Ainsworth? - I've taken it down.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19"Knock, knock. I believe you wanted a word.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22"I've been waiting, Mr Grainger.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24"Do you recognise this book?
0:13:24 > 0:13:29"Yes. Take everything down, Miss Ainsworth. I've taken it down."
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Don't put down what YOU say!
0:13:34 > 0:13:38- Shall I put that down?- No! Let's start again.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43The thing about Rumbold, I read the first script and thought, he's an eager idiot.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47He misunderstands everything. He's also devious.
0:13:47 > 0:13:54Like many of the cast, Nicholas Smith was no stranger to comedy when David Croft came calling.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59He'd been in Doctor In The House, Up Pompeii and The Liver Birds
0:13:59 > 0:14:05and had perfect preparation for Rumbold on The Frost Report.
0:14:06 > 0:14:12The council has decided to advance a grant to improve your property.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16You're going to have a row of pylons across your vegetable patch.
0:14:16 > 0:14:23He thought hard about Are You Being Served? So pin your ears back for Mr Rumbold's theory of comedy.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27It's extremely difficult, I think, in modern society
0:14:27 > 0:14:32to write comedy either for theatre or television or films,
0:14:32 > 0:14:38because most comedy is based on there being rules you can't break.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I think I should tell you, Sir, we're not doing the dance.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- But you've got to. - The answer is no.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51You've got to find a situation where there are rules.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55If I topple, I'll drag you with me. You get nowhere without a reference.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59- The men are behind me, Sir.- True.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05Nicholas is right. Take away the funny costumes and Bavarian Oompah band
0:15:05 > 0:15:11and Are You Being Served? Is a comedy of manners in an institution.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16Add some catchphrases and pussy jokes...and fame awaits.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18I was decorating my bathroom.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Er...when it first happened and...
0:15:22 > 0:15:29I went for some thinners, for some turpentine, to Woolworth's in Portobello Road.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I lived in Notting Hill Gate, then.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35I was attacked by several ladies with prams screaming,
0:15:35 > 0:15:41"There he is!" It went in a phase. It was, that's him from the shop,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45that's Mr Humphries and then, thank God, it went to -
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Ooh, look, there's John Inman.
0:15:47 > 0:15:53It was a great success and at one time we had over 20 million viewers.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57When it's on now there are younger viewers who enjoy it.
0:15:57 > 0:16:05By 1977, Are You Being Served? was so successful that the obligatory movie of the hit series was made.
0:16:05 > 0:16:11The comedy connections start shooting off in all directions as the stars get their own shows.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17John Inman was lured to ITV with his own show and new character.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Well, sort of.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And THIS is what I want.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Hundreds on the assembly line. We must keep the wheels
0:16:27 > 0:16:31of this rock factory turning faster than ever!
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Turn the wheel and let's get cracking!
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft
0:16:43 > 0:16:48gave Mollie Sugden a star vehicle that sent her into space.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54Do you know, I still get letters saying, when will you do more?
0:16:54 > 0:16:58At my age! Can you imagine me floating about on a wire now?
0:17:06 > 0:17:12Come Back Mrs Noah was a good idea which David Croft had about, um...
0:17:12 > 0:17:15using, um...Mollie Sugden, basically,
0:17:15 > 0:17:20as a lady that won an atomic kettle in the year 2035
0:17:20 > 0:17:24and went to the British space station to investigate it,
0:17:24 > 0:17:29pressed a button and it took off with a bulb changer, two scientists
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and somebody else who couldn't do anything.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37We had great effects but only six shows cos the BBC didn't like it.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42- But of a shock to you, Mrs Noah. - It's a bit of a shock to all of us.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46I should think so - I've left a chicken in the oven!
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Come Back Mrs Noah shows Croft's unofficial repertory company.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Ian Lavender from Dad's Army was the man in the specs.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59Co-stars Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett were in Dad's Army,
0:17:59 > 0:18:04Are You Being Served? and in the 1988 comedy, You Rang M'Lord?
0:18:04 > 0:18:09They're best remembered as Ashwood and Reynolds in Croft's next hit.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Teaming up with Jimmy Perry,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16It Ain't Half Hot Mum combined a forces setting with social comedy
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and gave us class warfare in the jungle.
0:18:20 > 0:18:21SHUT UP!
0:18:21 > 0:18:24The Army has its own hierarchy
0:18:24 > 0:18:26and everybody knows what it is.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Is that the only hat you've got, Gunner?
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Yes, Sergeant Major. It's MO's orders.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39It protects me head from the sun. I've got very thin skull bones.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45- Well, you know why that is, don't you?- No.- You've got a huge brain.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48It's rubbing inside and wearing your head out.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53When you're on location and you have a lot of extras on the show,
0:18:53 > 0:18:58er...you find that the private extras gather in one section
0:18:58 > 0:19:04and the officers gather in another section... They're all extras!
0:19:04 > 0:19:08They sort of associate with their own rank.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13I say! These are working men's caps.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17I was in India, um...and Malaya
0:19:17 > 0:19:23and my partner Jimmy Perry ran a concert party for the royal artillery in India.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26- It was second nature. - Any complaints?
0:19:26 > 0:19:31- If I may say so - the diet is very monotonous.- Monotonous?
0:19:31 > 0:19:36Monday you had corned beef hash, Tuesday corned beef fritters.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39What's monotonous?
0:19:39 > 0:19:45- Not bad, Sir. The only trouble is they get the same thing every day. - It's as bad for us.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47I'm fed up with chicken.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52'Jimmy and David would observe people's mannerisms.'
0:19:52 > 0:19:57I remember an incident in Ain't Half Hot when Donald was in the Navy,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01during the war, and was chatting at my desk.
0:20:01 > 0:20:08He said, "I was in the Navy. I did training - the worst two weeks of my life before I was commissioned."
0:20:08 > 0:20:12A few weeks later, this was in the script.
0:20:12 > 0:20:19- When I was in ranks the food was uneatable - worst two weeks of my life.- Carry on!
0:20:19 > 0:20:24With material that close to hand, no wonder the hits kept coming.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29David Croft moved into the '80s with Oh, Happy Band and Hi De Hi.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33A kind of It Ain't Half Cold Mum in a holiday camp.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Meanwhile, his protegee Mollie Sugden
0:20:36 > 0:20:40was larger than life in That's My Boy, which ran for six series -
0:20:40 > 0:20:43five more than John Inman's Take A Letter, Mr Jones.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47That was lucky because he was free to go down under
0:20:47 > 0:20:53and remake Are You Being Served? which couldn't live without him.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58The excuse was made that they couldn't find anybody camp enough.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02But, when I got there, that was totally untrue.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07Welcome, Mr Humphries. I'm Mr Dunkley I'm very proud of my floor.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11You've got a nice shine. What polish do you use?
0:21:11 > 0:21:16I wasted a lot of videotape because I couldn't remember their names.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21Having done so many episodes with Slocombe and Peacock,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24it was difficult to remember Crawford and Wagstaff.
0:21:24 > 0:21:31- Mrs Crawford and Miss Buxton, her junior.- May I say how pleased we are and I am unanimous in this
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and that goes for my assistant.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Mr Bankovitch will be over you and Mr Randall will be under you.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Just like being at home!
0:21:42 > 0:21:49At home, audiences hadn't taken to Oh, Happy Band but Hi De Hi, with its nostalgic setting,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53and familiar characters, became a ratings smash.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57# ..Off we go again... #
0:21:57 > 0:22:03I used to produce shows at Butlin's and Jimmy Perry was a redcoat.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06We knew all about the Butlin world
0:22:06 > 0:22:10and the structure of holiday camps.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13# Be sincere
0:22:14 > 0:22:19# In everything you do
0:22:20 > 0:22:27# Be sincere Is all I ask of you. #
0:22:27 > 0:22:29It was a world we knew well
0:22:29 > 0:22:32and we depicted it, I think.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39HI DE HI-I-I-I!
0:22:40 > 0:22:47So, between 1968 and 1982, David Croft and collaborators Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd
0:22:47 > 0:22:51had created Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi De Hi.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59That's four more sitcoms than most people manage in an entire career.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02But the question was, what next?
0:23:02 > 0:23:09We finished Are You Being Served? then we decided we'd write something sort of Upstairs Downstairs,
0:23:09 > 0:23:16and we had two days on that and we were just doing the downstairs part and I wasn't enjoying it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Either something's going or not.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22So I lay under the table to have a think and thought,
0:23:22 > 0:23:29what about the French Resistance? I phoned and he was in bed. I said, "I'm not enjoying what we're doing.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32"What about the French Resistance?"
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Oh, Rene!
0:23:35 > 0:23:37- Oh, Yvette!- At last we are alone!
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Hold me! Kiss me!
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Oh!
0:23:43 > 0:23:46It seems so very long.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48What does?
0:23:48 > 0:23:53It seemed an ideal setting because there was danger, excitement, er...
0:23:53 > 0:23:58seduction. You know, generals to find out what the plans were, etc.
0:23:58 > 0:24:06Um...hiding people. The central thing is a cafe everyone comes to. The perfect set, really.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09- Good moaning.- You stupid woman!
0:24:09 > 0:24:13When we had the best of any pair or threesome, in any scene,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16we could cut elsewhere quickly.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21- Listen very carefully - I shall say this only once.- Heil Hitler!- Club!
0:24:21 > 0:24:27- It has great pace.- You will put it in 'ere and clip it to a pigeon.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31You, Rene, will write about the uniforms we require.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Here is the paper supplied with the cylinder.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38- What shall I say?- To London,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40please supply urgently, by parachute
0:24:40 > 0:24:43drop at your earliest convenience,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45German uniforms as follows...
0:24:45 > 0:24:52With 'Allo 'Allo, Croft and Lloyd perfected the style of comedy they first used on Are You Being Served?
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Find a situation full of conflict,
0:24:54 > 0:24:59fill with strong characters and add catchphrases and gags.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04Make it nostalgic and satirical at the same time - et voila!
0:25:04 > 0:25:09The partnership couldn't end without those who brought it together.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13In 1992, they took Grace Brothers away from the shop floor
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and gave them a country hotel.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20In Grace And Favour we actually went on location.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Lovely locations in the Cotswolds,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26on a farm. It was... It was great fun.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30There's a rumour that you weren't on your own last night.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I wonder where that came from!
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Well, don't look at me!
0:25:36 > 0:25:42Do you know? I don't feel like breakfast. I'll go for a manly walk.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51I might pop into the village and buy a pipe...
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- DEEP VOICE:- ..and a couple of ounces of St Bruno.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58In my opinion it should never have been called Grace And Favour.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03It should be, as it is in America, Are You Being Served Again?
0:26:03 > 0:26:10Some of the others didn't like it so much because we lost this hierarchical thing we had before.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I said to Jeremy, when we did the second series,
0:26:14 > 0:26:19"I think it ought to be emphasised Rumbold is managing the hotel.
0:26:19 > 0:26:25"Thus, we can produce friction." And he said, "I think you're right." I think that's what happened.
0:26:25 > 0:26:31In 1995, David Croft OBE produced one last series for the BBC
0:26:31 > 0:26:38and marked the privatisation of the railways by taking a swipe at the industry in Oh, Dr Beeching!
0:26:38 > 0:26:40But like the age of steam,
0:26:40 > 0:26:45it looked like Croft's style of comedy had run out of puff.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47On the train!
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Lots of us are all part of David Croft's repertory company.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56In fact, years ago, on David's This Is Your Life, I sat with Mollie
0:26:56 > 0:27:03and we had tears in our eyes because we're very proud of David, apart from being fond of him.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08I looked at everyone and I thought, "He's made stars of all of you."
0:27:08 > 0:27:12With hindsight, how fortunate to be in that period
0:27:12 > 0:27:15of great comedies and to be part of them.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21It's belonging to a fellowship, I suppose, that I don't think will be repeated.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25That was a golden vein, no longer there.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31For many of us they'll always be ready to serve,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35in a store that will be forever England.
0:27:35 > 0:27:41This gentleman is going to a fancy dress do and wishes to use the gent's facilities to try it on.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45The gentleman's department will be suitable.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48- This way, please.- Thank you.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Mr Grainger, are you free?
0:27:50 > 0:27:56Sorry, Captain Peacock - I'm going to have my coffee in the staff cafe.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Mr Humphries, are you free?
0:27:59 > 0:28:01I'm busy pricing ties, Captain.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05- The gentleman wishes to try on a dress.- I'm free!