After "Young Mr. Grace" dies in an unfortunate scuba-diving incident, the staff at Grace Brothers find that their pension fund has been unwisely invested in a country manor house, currently operating as a hotel. With no other option, Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe (and her pussy, Tiddles), Captain Peacock, Miss Brahms and Mr. Rumbold all reluctantly team up and attempt to turn the hotel into a profitable business venture...

Reuniting the original cast members from Are You Being Served?, Grace & Favour was written and produced by British comedy-writer legends David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd. It brought together the main cast from the original show.

I grew up, in the '70s and '80 with Are You Being Served? and have very fond memories of it. I've never watched any reruns and hadn't seen Grave & Favour (I was away at university on its original broadcast and had way more interesting things to do than watch TV) so I was unsure of what I'd think of the show.

On balance I have to say I actually enjoyed it. This is mainly down to the wonderful cast and how they work together as a team. It's also a little sad, as all of the main cast, that moved over from Are You Being Served?, have all since passed on.

The first episode sees the main cast arrive at Millstone Manor to view what they have inherited. It soon becomes clear that the only way to get any of their pension money out of the place is to run it as a hotel. The previous manager and staff have let it go to pot and so the Grace Brothers team set about sprucing the place up, advertising and awaiting paying guests.

The series introduces a few new characters. Jessica Lovelock (Joanne Heywood) was Young Mr Grace's current flame when he died and was therefore written into the will at the last minute. Maurice Moulterd (Billy Burden) is the farmer who tends to the manor's livestock. And Mavis Moulterd (Fleur Bennett) is the farmer's daughter, who takes a shine to Mr. Humphries.

The show ran for two series (1992/1993) with six 30 min episodes each series. Sadly the show doesn't wrap up with any satisfying conclusion - it's left open as though another series was expected.

The comedy comes from the groups inept attempts at grappling with country life; Mavis and Mr. Humphries forced to share a bed; having to entertain the guests who are expecting more than just B&B; and Mrs. Slocombe's problems with her pussy. Unlike Are You Being Served?, Grace & Favour has a number of story arcs running through it and most episodes pick up something that happened in the previous episode and progresses that story a little further.

There's even, rather oddly, an episode with a paranormal twist. A Mummified Cat sees the gang find a mummified cat in one of the room's walls. They remove it and take it to the local museum, much to the concern of Mr. Moulterd who tells them that the cat would have been put there to stop a curse. While everyone shrugs this off as supernatural nonsense, they aren't so sure when strange things start to happen.

There's also plenty of pantomime activity, which is most notable in the episodes American Tourists and The Mongolians, where the team have to put on entertainment for foreign guests.

The discs look to be direct copies of the 2004 USA release right down to the old fashioned looking 3D computer generated menus - which take an age to navigate. The picture quality is pretty poor, but I'm assuming the show was originally recorded on video, so this is about as good as it gets. There are no extras.

For those who fondly remember the show or have never seen it, but where fans of Are you Being Served?, Grave & Favour is a satisfying slice of comedy history in a similar vein to the Carry On movies.

7

Darren Rea