Original Cast

John Inman

Mr Wilberforce Claybourne Humphries

John Inman played Mr Humphries throughout the entirety of the series' run. During the majority of the series Mr Humphries is the senior assistant behind the men's counter but armed with his-sometimes- unorthodox selling techniques and his gift for dealing with any customer that comes onto the floor makes him far outweigh the other salesmen in menswear. Towards the end of the series he becomes the most senior salesmen behind the counter but this is really the only time during the series that he does so permanently.

Mr Humphries is the perfect gentlemen he always tries to be kind to everyone he meets and generally tries to get on well with everyone. he is really only the only male staff member in the department who gets on well with the ladies. The references to his sexuality are frequent throughout the series but it is never explicitly stated whether he is gay or not. Mr Humphries is most remembered for his mincing walk and the gap in his front teeth, but what will always be associated with him the most is his common catchphrase "I'm Free!"

Mollie Sugden

Mrs Mary Elizabeth Jennifer Rachel Avergaveny Yiddle Slocombe

Mollie Sugden played Mrs Betty Slocombe for the entire time that the series ran. From the very first episode she was the senior assistant in the ladies' department, and she let everyone know that she was not to be messed with. Miss Brahms was her junior assistant and they got on well but her best friend on the floor had to be Mr Humphries; they got on well and seemed to understand each other, to a certain degree.

She is a lady full of bottle and she isn't afraid to speak her mind; even if sometimes it gets her into trouble with floorwalker Captain Peacock or even Mr Rumbold. Some of Mrs Slocomb's most memorable lines came from her talking about her beloved 'Pussy'. The cat that she had throughout the entire series it seemed to change gender every so often but it didn't matter, she loved it and always had to make sure she got home on time to greet it!

Frank Thornton

Captain Stephen Peacock

Captain Stephen Peacock, ex-army Captain, was played by Frank Thornton. He was part of the series from start to finish. He also went on holiday with the rest of the Ladies and Gents department to the Costa Plonka and when they went out to the country to run a hotel, he found himself not just living there and enjoying retirement but also being the hotel's head waiter.

As the floorwalker on the floor where both the Ladies and Gents departments were based he was often caught in the middle of conflicts between the two. But although he was their senior; it didn't mean that he didn't get on with them. In fact in Miss Brahms' case he liked her a little too much! Several times it's mentioned that he got her into a store cupboard at one of the yearly Christmas parties! Though while during Are You Being Served? he could never act on his interest in other women, as Mrs Peacock would have divorced him without a second thought. He was free from his wife in Grace and Favour and tried his luck with Miss Lovelock, without much success. Just because he got on with the staff out on the floor didn't mean he got on with everybody, Mr Rumbold in particular got up his nose frequently. In the store he couldn't act on his dislike for his superior but out in the country he often expressed his dislike for the man, as he also did when they all went on holiday together. He can also play the piano and ballroom dance.

Wendy Richard

Miss Shirley Brahms

Miss Shirley Brahms was Mrs Slocombe's junior sales assistant for the entire series. Even though she was the junior, it didn't mean that she was incapable. In fact she was able to run the Ladies department in her own for long periods of time when Mrs Slocombe was busy doing something else. One of her most memorable traits was speaking with a strong, if not exaggerated, cockney accent. To some this made her seem lesser educated and clever than her workmates. Though at one point during her holidays she had lessons to help her to speak a posh voice, she went back to speaking normally when a customer thought that she was mocking her.

Over the course of the series she found herself at the attention of Mr Lucas and sometimes Captain Peacock. She tried to stay away from the latter's advances but on a number of occasions went out with Mr Lucas, but this was mostly to avoid having to do her um's laundry or cooking her own dinner. She wasn't the best cook so the latter reason was why she went out with different men so often even if she had no real interest in them.

Trevor Bannister

Mr James Dick Lucas

Mr Lucas was in the series for 48 episodes out of 69. He was always the persuing Miss Brahms and most of his time in the shop was spent making trouble and gossiping with Mr Humphries instead of doing any actual work. In the first episode Captain Peacock asks hims how long he had been working at Grace Brothers; he replies that he has been there for just one month, his inexperince shows in his attute toward costumers and the fact that he has no sales skills whatsoever. In the series Mr Lucas gets off to a bad start when he tries to stretch a pair of trousers the way Mr Humprhies stretches a jacket, the trousers rip and he has to pay for them...

He was the first junior ssisstant on the show and he often complained that because he was the junior he couldn't make any money from commission. His relationships with the rest of the staff were not always the best, he showed Captain Peacock little to no respect, at times he was seemingly on good terms with Mrs Slocombe but he often made jokes aimed at her, the same with Mr Humphries. There were times when he and Miss Brahms got on well, with one time Miss Brahms mentioning that he took her out for the evening. But their relationship always went downhill because of his pursuit of her.

Nicholas Smith

Mr Cuthbert Rumbold

Mr Rumbold was never really part of the floor gang because he was their manager. His position was above Captain Peacock, The Captain being the floorwalker but Mr Rumbold being the floor manager. The two of them never really saw eye to eye on anything, Captain peacock and the other members on the floor thinking that the man who was supposed to be in charge was a clueless idiot who really had no idea how to do his job properly. The staff, especially Miss Brahms, regularly calling him 'Jug Ears' to make fun of his unusually large ears.

Arthur Brough

Mr Ernest Grainger

As the head of the Gents department he was in charge of Mr Humphries and Mr Lucas. Arthur Brough left the show in 1977 after just 34 episodes. There were several people brought in to replace him when he left but they never stayed for too long. Mr Grainger had been working at the store for thirty years and was the longest serving senior in his department.

From very start he disliked Mrs Slocombe and the entire ladies department. He absolutely hated having to share the floor with another department, he protested against it many times but never won his arguments. His relationship with Mrs Slocombe was always a bit rocky and they never really saw eye-to-eye on anything. Mr Grainger never seemed to be in a good mood when he was working and the only person he really got on relatively well with was Captain Peacock, and that was only because they had spent years in each other's company.

Harold Bennett

Young Mr Grace

Larry Martyn

Mr Mash

Young Mr Grace owned the store and despite his title he wasn't young at all. His signature phrase "You've all done very well!" was often used when he was visiting the floors of his store. When he did visit the different department he would often just say his phrase and that was it, he didn't give his staff any more feedback than that. Throughout the series he had three nurses that helped him out because of his poor health, although when it came to his secretaries there wasn't anything stopping him, not even his pacemaker!

Late in the series his character announced that he was handing over the store to Old Mr Grace as he was going to retire and write a book. it is assumed that at some point between the time where the series ended and Grace and Favour he took back control over the store before he died during a scuba diving accident that occurred when the top half of Miss Lovelock's bikini fell off.

Although the most remember character from the maintenance and packing department was probably Mr Harmon, he didn't take over until Larry Martyn and his character Mr Mash left the show. Mr Mash was a lot like Mr Harmon, he frequently annoyed Captain Peacock by being on the shop floor when he wasn't supposed to be and he also antagonised the staff by flaunting his over time pay in their faces. However he wasn't always annoying and sometimes he even endeavoured to help the staff out, in his own way.