Grace and Favour Season 1
Grace & Favour is the sequel to the long-running series Are You Being Served?. It only aired for 2 seasons from 1992-1993. It brought the main cast from Are You Being Served? back minus Mike Berry (Mr. Spooner, the junior partner) and Arthur English (Mr. Harman, the janitor). It did bring in some new faces to the cast and it showed some extra character development.
The Cast:
- Mollie Sugden – Mrs. Betty Slocombe
- John Inman – Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries
- Wendy Richard – Miss Shirley Brahms
- Frank Thornton – Captain Stephen Peacock
- Nicholas Smith – Mr. Cuthbert “Jug Ears” Rumbold
- Fleur Bennett – Mavis Moulterd
- Joanne Heywood – Jessica Lovelock
- Billy Burden – Maurice Moulterd
- Michael Bilton – Mr. Thorpe
- Shirley Cheriton – Miss Prescott
- Gregory Cox – Mr. Frobisher
- Andrew Barclay – Malcolm Heathcliff
- Diane Holland – Celia Littlewood
- Andy Joseph – Joseph Lee
- Eric Dodson – Sir Robert
- Maggie Holland – Mrs. Cleghampton
The Episodes
- The Inheritance – Young Mr. Grace died while scubba diving with his companion, Miss Lovelock. Her bikini top popped off. The staff of the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Apparel apartment were the only staff members left in the store, Grace Brothers, at the time it closed. Meaning they were the only beneficiaries of the pension fund, that Mr. Grace invested in a Tudor manor house called Millstone Manor. The land comes with a farm that is run by the Moulterds, Maurice and his daughter Mavis. The staff decide to visit the manor house and see if they can get it up and running as a tourist hotel. Unfortunately, Mr Rumbold ran off the staff and they need to hire all new staff to run the hotel.
We learn more about each character as the series goes on, but the first tidbit comes in this first episode. We learn Mrs. Slocombe was a land girl in her youth and knew Mr. Moulterd. He said they had a tumble in the hay and she denies it wholeheartedly. The staff gets settled into their rooms, Mrs. Slocombe with Miss Brahms (Miss Brahms’ room had a leak in it), Mr. Peacock is in the room next to the ladies, Mr Rumbold has his own room, Miss Lovelock has a room over the stables, and Mr. Humphries tucked himself into the Chef’s bed… with the farmer’s daughter. - Under Arrest – The staff decides to run the hotel themselves and are still looking for new staff members. Mrs. Slocombe discovers the farmer’s daughter, Mavis Moulterd, sleeping with Mr. Humphries and nearly busts a gut trying to tell everyone. Her thunder is interrupted when Mavis comes down the stairs asking if someone could ask Mr. Humphries if she left her knickers under his pillow. Mrs. Slocombe, defeated, collects eggs from the hen house and gets stuck. Mrs. Slocombe and Captain Peacock head into town to get food from the butcher’s when they run into a gypsy cart parked in the middle of the road. Mrs. Slocombe climbs up to move it when the horse bolts. She is placed in jail for speeding and stealing a cart.
Meanwhile, Mr. Humphries and Mavis do a little “in and out” in the woodshed. Mr. Rumbold sends for Mr. Thorpe to bring up an advance on their first month’s pension money and asks him to pick up Mrs. Slocombe and Captain Peacock at the police office. Their hearing is scheduled for the next day. - The Court Case – Mrs. Slocombe has her hearing in front of the magistrate and everyone heads down to the courthouse to support her. Mr. Thorpe represents her. Everyone in turn is called to the stand as character witnesses. Mr. Moulterd saves the day by bribing the magistrate and proving the gypsy was poaching the magistrate’s pheasants. Mrs. Slocombe got a small fine and was sent home.
- Looking For Staff – Since they no longer have staff to run the hotel, they decide to do some of the work themselves. Captain Peacock mows the lawn, with a possessed lawn mower, Mrs. Slocombe and Ms. Brahms cleaned the inside of the house and hang the wet sheets on the line to dry, and Mr. Humphries takes care of the flower beds and helps in the kitchen.
Mr. Moulterd ends up running over the sheets with his tractor and the staff have to go teasiling to get the sheets clean again. The interviews for the new staff members goes badly and they get a visit from the travel agent saying he has a photographer coming to take a picture of the new staff for the new travel brochure. - Things That Go Bump In the Night – The gang decides to pose as the staff for the picture. At night, a storm rages outside and frightens everyone. Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy goes missing and everyone helps look for her. They find secret passages and something going bump in the night. It spooks everyone so bad Mr. Moulterd ends up climbing in bed with Mavis and Mr. Humphries.
- American Tourists – The American tourists the travel agent booked finally arrive and the gang tries to muck-in and help out by filling in for the staff. Mr. Humphries learns how to milk a cow and the staff learn there were a few more conditions of the travel agreement. The staff has to hold Sunday service and perform a Thanksgiving Harvest dance. The other half of their money for the weekend rides on how well they perform. Their dance gets rained out, but they still perform the dance indoors. Quite successfully.
