Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft for many years had been keen on the idea of bringing back the characters from 'Are You Being Served?' since its conclusion in 1985. They realised however that they would need to take the characters from the original setting in the department store and put them in a new setting altogether ( as they recognised that they had went as far as they could in Grace Brothers ). It would not be until the early '90's that the idea would finally come to fruition. The new show was 'Grace & Favour'. Young Mr. Grace has been killed tragically in a scuba diving accident whilst on holiday with his secretary Jessica Lovelock ( Joanne Heywood ). His former Grace Brothers staff ( minus Mr. Lucas, Trevor Bannister having not been asked to return ) are gathered after his funeral to inherit each a share of his will. The thing is, his estate has been invested in a manor house in the English countryside named 'Millstone Manor'. Mr. Rumold currently is running the manor as a country hotel and takes on the ex Grace Bros staff as his new staff.
It was more or less business as usual for the team but spice was added by the inclusion of new characters such as farmer Morris Moulterd ( Billy Burden ) who once had a fling with Mrs. Slocombe when she was a land girl and his tomboy daughter Mavis ( sexy Fleur Bennett ) who seems to have a crush on Mr. Humphries.
It was a fish out of water show, but very amusing, even if not on the same level as its predecessor. The cast still bring the same energy to their characters, particularly Mollie Sugden, even if she was starting to look frail. Billy Burden was hilarious as Mr. Moulterd and the scenes between Fleur Bennett and John Inman were lovely. It would have been nice to see the two get married. They seemed such an ideal match. 'Grace & Favour' was a big hit over in America ( where it was retitled 'Are You Being Served Again?' ) and has now been released on DVD so fans not only of 'Are You Being Served?' but of Mollie Sugden can tune in and have a ball.
It was more or less business as usual for the team but spice was added by the inclusion of new characters such as farmer Morris Moulterd ( Billy Burden ) who once had a fling with Mrs. Slocombe when she was a land girl and his tomboy daughter Mavis ( sexy Fleur Bennett ) who seems to have a crush on Mr. Humphries.
It was a fish out of water show, but very amusing, even if not on the same level as its predecessor. The cast still bring the same energy to their characters, particularly Mollie Sugden, even if she was starting to look frail. Billy Burden was hilarious as Mr. Moulterd and the scenes between Fleur Bennett and John Inman were lovely. It would have been nice to see the two get married. They seemed such an ideal match. 'Grace & Favour' was a big hit over in America ( where it was retitled 'Are You Being Served Again?' ) and has now been released on DVD so fans not only of 'Are You Being Served?' but of Mollie Sugden can tune in and have a ball.