Are You Being Served In Australia? (partially lost Australian remake of British TV series; 1980-1981)

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Are You Being Served Australian series title card.jpg

Title card.

Status: Partially Lost

Are You Being Served In Australia is an Australian remake of the British sitcom of the same name. It was produced by Network Ten and aired 16 episodes in two seasons. The drawcard presents actor, John Inman reprising his role as the main character, Mr.Humphries from the original series. However, the other characters of the show are directly based on the original characters from the British version, just having new names.[1]

In comparison to the original series, Inman described this version of the series as "tighter - there's less padding."[2]

Plot

Mr.Humphries is sent to Australia by Mr.Grace to work temporarily at his Australian cousin's menswear department, Bone Brothers. However, apart from being in a new setting with Australian characters, the characters and situations are almost the same as in the original series, from the set design to the costuming. Menswear and ladies' apparel share a floor of a large city department store which comes into regular conflicts throughout the show.

Cast

  • John Inman as Mr. Humphries
  • June Bronhill as Mrs. Crawford
  • Reg Gillam as Captain Wagstaff
  • Judith Woodroffe as Miss Buxton
  • Christine Amor as Miss Nicholls
  • Tony Bazell as Mr. Mankowitz
  • Shane Bourne as Mr. Randel
  • Peter Collingwood as Mr. Dunkley
  • Ken Fraser as Mr. Fenwick
  • Basil Clarke as Young Mr. Bone
  • Reg Evans as Mr. Cocker
  • Kerry Daniel as Young Mr. Bone's Nurse
  • Tracey Kelly as Young Mr. Bone's Secretary
  • Bernadette Gibson as the Canteen manager
  • Maurie Fields as Harry Collins (1 episode)

Availability

The series never ran outside of Australia and has never been repeated on television since the late 1980s. Though, a recurring joke on a radio show called "Get This", stated that the loss of the master tapes from the series prevented its release on DVD. 15 episodes from the show have been found and uploaded by YouTube user, Fredrick Featherstone, though Season 1, Episode 3 hasn't been found entirely.

Episode List

Season One

# Episode Title Status
1 Get Fit Down Under, Mr. Humphries Found
2 The Hero Found
3 Mrs. Crawford, Senior Person Lost
4 The Agent Found
5 The Apartment Found
6 The Junior Found
7 The Punch and Judy Affair Found
8 Anything You Can Do Found

Season Two

# Episode Title Status
9 Dear Sexy Knickers Found
10 Camping In Found
11 Our Figures Are Slipping Found
12 Heir Apparent Found
13 Front Page Story Found
14 Undesirable Alien Found
15 Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend Found
16 His and Hers Found

References

  1. Stavordale, Peter. "Opera Star June For New Comedy Series.", TV Week. 9 February 1980, page 27
  2. The Cheek of it All Comes Out Again., TV Week. 29 November 1980, page 2

External Links