The cast of Are you Being Served? in panto

Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, the show follows the misadventures and mishaps of the staff of the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments, in the flagship department store of a fictional chain called Grace Brothers.

Broadcast between 1972 and 1985 on BBC1, the sitcom itself spanned ten series totaling 69 parts – five of which are Christmas specials. Are You Being Served? was a great success in the UK and was also popular in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Israel. In the United States, it gained a loyal and enthusiastic following when PBS television stations began airing reruns of it in the late 1980s. A one-off special, with a revamped cast very closely matching the appearance of the original, was broadcast on 28 August 2016. A spin off sereis featuring many of the original cast called 'Grace and Favour' ran for 2 seasons and was set after the closure of the Grace Brothers department store.

JOHN INMAN (Mr Humphries)

1966/67 Cinderella - Gaumont Theatre Doncaster

1969/70 Cinderella - The New Theatre Oxford

1970/71 Cinderella - The Wimbledon Theatre

1972/73 Cinderella - The Bristol Hippodrome

1973/74 Cinderella - The Palace Theatre Manchester

1976/77 Mother Goose - The Wimbledon Theatre

1977/78 Mother Goose - The Bristol Hippodrome

1978/79 Mother Goose -Theatre Royal Nottingham

1979/80 Mother Goose -The New Theatre Oxford

1980/81 Mother Goose - Davenport Theatre

1981/82 Mother Goose - Victoria Palace London

1982/83 Mother Goose - Liverpool Empire

1983/84 Mother Goose -Alexandra Birmingham

1984/85 Mother Goose - Churchill Theatre Bromley

1985/86 Aladdin - Davenport Theatre

1986/87 Aladdin - Grand Theatre Wolverhampton

1987/88 Babes in the Wood - London Palladium

1988/89 Goldilocks - Grand Theatre Swansea

1990/91 Aladdin -Churchill Theatre Bromley

1991/92 Mother Goose - Theatre Royal Brighton

1992/93 Jack & the Beanstalk - Bristol Hippodrome

1994/95 Mother Goose - Davenport Theatre

1996/97 Snow White - Southampton Mayflower

1997/98 Snow White - New Victoria Theatre Woking

1998/99 Robin Hood - Grand Theatre Wolverhampton

1999/00 Jack & The Beanstalk - Cliffs Pavilion

2000/01 Aladdin - Theatre Royal Plymouth

2001/02 Aladdin -New Victoria Woking

2002/03 Aladdin - Theatre Royal Newcastle

2003/04 Aladdin - New Theatre Cardiff

2004/05 Dick Whittington - Richmond Theatre

In December 2004, Inman was forced to cancel an appearance in a pantomime as he was suffering from a hepatitis A infection, he never worked again and it was claimed that he suffered complications from this infection for the rest of his life. John Inman died on 8 March 2007

MOLLIE SUGDEN (Betty Slocombe)

1976/77 Jack and the Beanstalk - Liverpool Empire

1980/81 Dick Whittington -London Palladium

1988/89 Cinderella - Kings Theatre Southsea

Mollie Sugden died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford on 1 July 2009 of unspecified heart failure

WENDY RICHARD (Shirley Brahms)

1983/84 Cinderella at the Dartford Orchard

1986/87 Cinderella at the Theatre Royal Brighton

1987/88 Cinderella at the Beck Theatre Hayes

1989/90 Cinderella the Churchill Theatre Bromley

1997/98 Dick Whittington at the New Theatre Brighton - Wendy never appeared in this

performance due to a back injury meaning she was replaced in the cast by Lorraine Chase

Wendy died on 26 February 2009 of breast cancer, aged 65

ALFIE BASS (Mr Goldberg)

1973/74 Jack and the Beanstalk - London Palladium

Alfie died on 15th July 1987 following a heart attack

ARTHUR ENGLISH

1968/69 Aladdin at the Weymouth Pavilion

1977/78 Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Bath

1980/81 The Sleeping Beauty - Bournemouth Pavilion

1982/83 Babes in the Wood at the Ashcroft Theatre Croydon

1986/87 Cinderella at the Princes Hall Aldershot

1987/88 Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Wakefield

Arthur English died in 1995 at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey as a result of complications from emphysema

MIKE BERRY (Mr Spooner)

1966/67 Mother Goose - Spa Theatre Bridlington

1980/81 Robinson Crusoe - Ashcrot Theatre Croydon

1981/82 Dick Whittington at the Congress Theatre Eastbourne

1982/83 Cinderella at the Lewisham Theatre

1983/84 Aladdin at the Hexagon Theatre Reading

1984/85 Mother Goose at the Kings Theatre Southsea

NICHOLAS SMITH (Cuthbert Rumbold)

1961/62 The Frog Prince - The Coventry Theatre

1963/64 Sleeping Beauty - The Bristol Hippodrome

1977/78 Aladdin - The Ashcroft Theatre Croydon

1978/79 Cinderella - New Palace Theatre Plymouth

1981/92 Aladdin - Broadway Theatre Catford

1982/83 Cinderella - King's Theatre, Southsea
1984/95 Treasure Island - Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon
1985/86 Snow White - Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage

1987/88 Babes in the Wood - The London Palladium

1994/95 Aladdin - Alhambra Bradford

1999/00 Dick Whittington - Theatre Royal Bath

2001/02 Cinderella - Festival Theatre Malvern

Nicholas died on 6 December 2015 following seven weeks of hospitalisation for a head injury from a fall at his home in Sutton, London.

FRANK THORNTON (Captain Peacock)

1960/61 Robinson Crusoe at the Theatre Royal Windsor
1988/89 Peter Pan - Connaught Theatre wORTHING

Frank died from natural causes peacefully in his sleep at his home in Barnes, London, on 16 March 2013, aged 92.

TREVOR BANNISTER (Mr Lucas)

1978/79 Robinson Crusoe at the Mecca State Theatre, Grays
1979/80 Aladdin at the Theatre Royal Windsor
1981/82 Dick Whittington at the Beck Theare Hayes
1983/84 Aladdin - Chichester Festival Theatre

1984/85 Aladdin at the Congress Theatre Eastbourne

1985/86 The Wizard of Oz at the Kings Theatre Southsea

1986/87 Dick Whittington at the Beck Theatre Hayes

1992/93 Jack and the Beanstalk at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon

1994/95 Sleeping Beauty at the Crewe Lyceum

1995/96 Snow White at the Harlequin Theatre Redhill

1996/97 Jack and the Beanstalk at the Poole Arts Centre

1997/98 Jack and the Beanstalk at the Harlequin Theatre Redhill

1998/99 Jack and the Beanstalk at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford

1999/00 Aladdin at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford

2000/01 Jack & The Beanstalk - Theatre Royal Windsor

2001/02 Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal Windsor

2002/03 Mother Goose at the Middlesborough Theatre

2003/04 Aladdin at the Lyceum Theatre Sheffield

2004/05 Aladdin at the Riverfront Newport

Bannister died on 14 April 2011, at the age of 76, after a heart attack at his allotment in Thames Ditton, Surrey

1983 Chichester Festival Theatre panto.p

Kenneth Waller (Old Mr Grace)

1989 - Dick Whittington - Davenport Theatre

1992 - Cinderella - Devonshire Park Eastbourne

1997 - Cinderella - Wylotts Centre Potters Bar

Waller passed away on 28th January 2000 aged 72 following a brief illness

This series was renamed in America as 'Are You Being Served Again?'

From the original Are You Being Served cast John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Wendy Richard and Nicholas Smith all reprised their original roles in Grace and Favour and were joined by......