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Havoc descends on the coast of Spain as staff from Grace Brothers arrive for their annual holiday on the Costa Plonka, which does not exactly live up to the brochure's promise of rest and relaxation. Comedy based spin-off, starring John Inman, Wendy Richard, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister and Arthur English
1977
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Comedy
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Mollie Sugden
(Actor)
.. Mrs Slocombe
John Inman
(Actor)
.. Mr Humphries
Frank Thornton
(Actor)
.. Capt Peacock
Trevor Bannister
(Actor)
.. Mr Lucas
Wendy Richard
(Actor)
.. Miss Brahms
Arthur English
(Actor)
.. Harman
Bob Kellett
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Mollie Sugden
(Actor)
.. Mrs Slocombe
Born:
July 21, 1922
in
Keighley
Best Known For:
Playing saleswoman Mrs Slocombe in sitcom Are You Being Served?
Early-life:
Born Isobel Mary Sugden in Keighley on July 21, 1922. Shortly after leaving school, the Second World War broke out and Mollie worked in a munitions factory in Keighley making shells for the Royal Navy. She went on to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She worked in repertory theatre for eight years and found work on radio and TV. Her first regular sitcom role was as Mrs Crispin in the sitcom Hugh and I, which ran from 1962 to 1966. Another sitcom role followed in 1971 when she began playing Mrs Hutchinson in The Liver Birds.
Career:
In the early 1970s, Sugden was cast in a role that brought her international fame, department store saleswoman Mrs Slocombe in the hugely popular BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? It ran from 1972 until 1985, and Sugden reprised her role in spin-off series Grace & Favour. She also starred in the sitcoms Come Back Mrs Noah, That's My Boy and My Husband and I. She reprised her role as Mrs Hutchinson in the 1996 revival of The Liver Birds. She had a recurring role on Coronation Street as the landlady of The Laughing Donkey, a rival to the Street's Annie Walker. Sugden died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford on July 1, 2009 at the age of 86.
Quote:
"I must go home and attend to my pussy."
Trivia:
During Sugden's days at Oldham rep, she was earning £3 a week. She was married to fellow actor William Moore from 1958 until his death in 2000.
John Inman
(Actor)
.. Mr Humphries
Born:
June 28, 1935
in
Preston
Best Known For:
Playing Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served?
Early-life:
Frederick John Inman was born in Preston on June 28, 1935. At the age of 12, he moved with his parents to Blackpool, where his mother ran a boarding house, while his father owned a hairdressing business. At the age of 13, John made his stage debut in a melodrama entitled Freda in the Pavilion on Blackpool's South Pier. After leaving school, John worked for two years at a gentlemen's outfitters in Blackpool. At the age of 17, he moved to London to work for retailer Austin Reed in Regent Street. Four years later, he became a scenic artist with Kenneth Kendall's touring company at a theatre in Crewe. John made his West End debut as an actor in the 1960s when he starred in Ann Veronica.
Career:
In 1970, Inman made his TV debut in the sitcom Two in Clover. In 1972, he landed the role that made him famous, playing camp menswear assistant Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served? The show ran for 10 series until 1985 and was also popular in the United States. He played Mr Humphries in a short-lived Australian version of Are You Being Served? His other TV credits include the sitcoms Odd Man Out and Take a Letter, Mr Jones. He reprised the role of Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served? spin-off Grace and Favour. Inman appeared in more than 40 pantomimes. He died on March 8, 2007, at the age of 71.
Quote:
"I'm free."
Trivia:
Inman was an accomplished golfer.
Frank Thornton
(Actor)
.. Capt Peacock
Born:
January 15, 1921
in
London
Best Known For:
Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine.
Early-life:
Frank Thornton Ball was born in London on January 15, 1921 to Rosina and William. Frank wanted to act from an early age but his father encouraged him to have a more stable job, so he began working in insurance after leaving school. He took evening classes at the London School of Dramatic Art and after two years, he was invited to become a day student. During the Second World War, Frank was evacuated with the drama school and his first job was touring with four plays in Ireland. He joined the RAF as an airman and ended the war as an officer. After leaving the RAF in 1947, Frank joined a repertory company. He made his film debut in Radio Cab Murder (1954).
Career:
Thornton went on to become a familiar face on TV, specialising in comedy. He made guest appearances in Hancock, Sykes, The Goodies, Love Thy Neighbour and Steptoe and Son. He is best known for playing Captain Peacock in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? He reprised his role for the spin-off series Grace & Favour. In 1997, he joined the cast of Last of the Summer Wine as Herbert `Truly" Truelove, a role he played until 2010. He also appeared in Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001). Thornton died peacefully in his sleep on March 16, 2013. He was 92.
Quote:
From Are You Being Served?: "Mr Humphries, are you free?"
Trivia:
Thornton was nominated of an Olivier Award for his performance in the musical Me and My Girl.
Trevor Bannister
(Actor)
.. Mr Lucas
Born:
August 14, 1934
in
Durrington, Wiltshire
Best Known For:
Playing menswear assistant Mr Lucas in the sitcom Are You Being Served?
Early-life:
Trevor Gordon Bannister was born in Durrington, Wiltshire, on August 14, 1934. After leaving school at the age of 15, he joined a repertory theatre company in Folkstone and went on to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. After two years' national service in the army, he gained further repertory experience in Torquay, Bath, Bedford, Worthing, Wolverhampton, York and Birmingham. In 1960, he made his West End debut as Arthur Crabtree in Billy Liar.
Career:
Bannister's breakthrough on TV came in the 1968 drama The War of Darkie Pilbeam, a trilogy about a 1940s spiv, written by Coronation Street creator Tony Warren. Playing menswear assistant Mr Lucas in popular BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? made Bannister a household name. In his later career, he played a recurring character in Last of the Summer Wine. Bannister died on April 14, 2011, at the age of 76, after suffering a heart attack at his allotment in Thames Ditton, Surrey.
Quote:
On Are You Being Served? "The joy of that particular show was the fact that most of us had known each other before we came to do it."
Trivia:
Bannister was a regular pantomime dame on stage, taking 34 roles in 35 years.
Wendy Richard
(Actor)
.. Miss Brahms
Born:
July 20, 1943
in
Middlesbrough
Best Known For:
Playing Miss Brahms in Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders.
Early-life:
Born Wendy Emerton in Middlesbrough on July 20, 1943, an only child to publicans Henry and Beatrice Emerton. While Wendy was a baby, her family moved to Bournemouth. They later moved to the Isle of Wight and then to London, where they ran the Shepherds Tavern in Shepherd Market. Wendy was 11 when her father committed suicide. After leaving school at 15, she helped pay her way through the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London by working in the fashion department at Fortnum & Mason. It was during this time that she changed her surname to Richard.
Career:
Richard's early TV roles included guest appearances in Hugh and I, The Arthur Haynes Show, The Likely Lads, Up Pompeii and On the Buses. She had a recurring role in the BBC's 1960s soap opera The Newcomers. Richard's big break came in 1972 when she began playing shop assistant Miss Brahms in the hugely popular sitcom Are You Being Served? She also featured in film versions of the sitcoms On The Buses (1971), Bless This House (1972) and Are You Being Served? (1977). Already a household name, Richard found further success as matriarch Pauline Fowler in BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role she played from the first episode in 1985 until her character's death in December 2006. Away from TV, Richard appeared regularly on the Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute. Richard died of breast cancer on February 26, 2009, at the age of 65. The last three months of her life were documented in the BBC programme Wendy Richard: To Tell You the Truth.
Quote:
"My message to anyone going through the cancer thing is to remain positive and have faith in your oncologist and doctors."
Trivia:
In 1962, Richard topped the pop music charts with the single Come Outside. She was awarded an MBE in 2000.
Arthur English
(Actor)
.. Harman
Bob Kellett
(Director)
