There are not many UK TV programmes that are well known in India, save for Yes Minister, The Benny Hill Show and Mind Your Language. Some years ago, I wondered if Britain has produced something similar. I found two good candidates — Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served? The first one had John Cleese, who was in one of the new Pink Panther movies starring Steve Martin. Fawlty Towers was very funny but had only a dozen episodes. Definitely not something you could see over and over again like Gilligan's Island or Hollywood Hillbillies. The latter had over 70 episodes and in effect provided endless entertainment. Are You Being Served was broadcast in the UK by the BBC between 1972 and 1985 over 10 seasons.
The plot and characters
Are You Being Served was set in a departmental store, particularly a floor selling by men's and women's apparel. Two saleswomen and three salesmen were presided over by a retired Army captain acting as the floor walker and a floor manager. There was an enforced pecking order and everyone fought protect their treasured status. This left them constantly sparring between each other and provided a lot of entertainment. There was also some class warfare between this group and the maintenance personnel.
The humour
The show featured all kinds of humour. The people talked funny, dressed funny, and even danced and sang funny. There were occasional references to current events but it was nothing you could not follow. The show was not above ethnic humour (now deemed racist) and adult humour (clever but not crass). In fact, it unapologetically relished in that sort of juvenile humour. Some episodes featured absurd electrical contraptions acting as shop props that caused violent explosions of laughter from the audience. One of the saleswoman always referred to her cat as her pussy and this would always leave the audience in uproar. There was one mama's boy who was so spoilt his orientation was always under a cloud of suspicion. Even the pantry staff provided a lot of mirth. That is the greatness of this show. Every character provided humour. There is not a dialogue without it.
Video compilation
FFmpeg command
I made this video compilation of clips from different episodes using one long command of FFmpeg.
ffmpeg -y \
-i His-and-hers.mp4 \
…
-i Shedding-the-load.mp4 \
-i cover-ffmpeg-books.png \
-filter_complex \
"color=c=black:s=480x360:d=5:sar=1, split=6[b1][b2][b3][b4][b5][b6];
aevalsrc=0:d=5, asplit=6[ta1][ta2][ta3][ta4][ta5][ta6];
[0:v:0]trim=start=\'00:15:42\':end=\'00:16:02\',
scale=w=480:h=360:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,
pad=480:360:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2, setsar=1, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v2];
[0:a:0]atrim=start=\'00:15:42\':end=\'00:16:02\', asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a2];
…
[7:v:0]trim=start=\'00:10:19\':end=\'00:12:23\',
scale=w=480:h=360:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,
pad=480:360:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2, setsar=1, setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v17];
[7:a:0]atrim=start=\'00:10:19\':end=\'00:12:23\', asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a17];
[b6][11:v:0]overlay=x=(W-w)/2:y=110,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/10:text='This video was created using a single command of FFmpeg.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/10+20:text='Read about it on the blog at www.VSubhash.in.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/10+60:text='Become an FFmpeg pro by reading this book.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t6];
[b1]drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2-20:text='“Are You Being Served”':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=30:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2+20:text='BBC TV drama. Circa 1972-1985.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=16:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t1];
[b2]drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2:text='Mr. Harman’s Revenge':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=20:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t2];
[b3]drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2:text='The risqué and the double entendres':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=20:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t3];
[b4]drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2:text='The dummies':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=20:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t4];
[b5]drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=(H-th)/2:text='The sparring':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=20:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[t5];
[t6][ta6] [t1][ta1] [v12][a12] [v1][a1] [v3][a3] [v4][a4] [t2][ta2] [v2][a2] [t3][ta3] [v9][a9] [v5][a5] [v14][a14] [v8][a8] [v13][a13] [t4][ta4] [v7][a7] [v15][a15] [v16][a16] [t5][ta5] [v17][a17] [v10][a10] [v11][a11]concat=n=22:v=1:a=1[cv][ca];
[11:v:0]scale=h=100:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease[wm];
[cv][wm]overlay=x=W-w-10:y=10:enable='gt(t,6)',
drawtext=x=W-tw-20:y=H-th-20:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Time-Normal.ttf:fontsize=round(H/30):fontcolor=FFFFFF77:text='%{eif\:mod(t/3600\,60)\:d\:2}\:%{eif\:mod(t/60\,60)\:d\:2}\:%{eif\:mod(t\,60)\:d\:2}'[mv];
color=c=black:s=480x360:d=20:sar=1,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=40:text='Learn to process multimedia using the free tool FFmpeg.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=60:text='It is much easier and more powerful than paid software.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf,
drawtext=x=(W-tw)/2:y=80:text='Get this book from www.VSubhash.in.':fontcolor=ghostwhite:fontsize=12:fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/ttf/Billboard.ttf[b7];
[b7][11:v:0]overlay=x=(W-w)/2:y=110[t7],
aevalsrc=0:d=20[ta7];
[mv][ca][t7][ta7]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[v][a]" \
-map '[v]' -map '[a]' \
-c:v libx264 -crf 21 -preset medium -tune film -r 24 \
-c:a libfdk_aac -vbr 5 \
aybs-clips.mp4 && xdg-open aybs-clips.mp4