Are You Being Served? The Complete Collection (Series 1-10) 14 vol
The definitive British sitcom is almost certainlyAre You Being  Served?, which depicts the squabbles, misadventures, and flirtations  of the staff of Grace Brothers department store. The show was originally  conceived as a vehicle for an irreverent junior salesman named Mr. Lucas  (Trevor Bannister), but it soon became clear that mocking a social  hierarchy isn't half as funny as taking it all too seriously. The show  really revolves around Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden), whose wildly  changing hair color and mercurial moods terrorize the rest of the staff,  and cheerful but sly Mr. Humphries (the effervescent John Inman), one of  the first gay characters on television treated with dignity--or at least  no more indignity than anyone else (the show makes some noise about not  being sure if Mr. Humphries is gay or not, but no one in the audience will  have any question). But the rest of the cast is superb as well: Frank  Thornton as the elegant but leering floorwalker Capt. Peacock, Wendy  Richard as the sexy, impish Miss Brahms, Arthur Brough as cantankerous Mr.  Grainger (who, sadly, died after the fifth season; other characters took his  position on the sales staff, but never quite matched up), and Nicholas  Smith as the self-serving but incompetent manager Mr. Rumbold form a comic  ensemble that has rarely been equaled.These characters, written with  affection and played with superb comic dash, endlessly jockey for status  and salary while simultaneously creating an alternative family (the core  structure for any sitcom on either side of the Atlantic).Are You Being  Served?deserves its devoted fan base, who will revel in this  comprehensive 14-DVD box set (which includes specials about Inman, Sugden,  and Richard, as well as other extras).--Bret Fetzer