Roxanne Sorooshian

Celebrities are like buses. None dies for ages and then three pop along in quick succession. Thus it is we say farewell to Farrah Fawcett, feather-cut bionic goddess; Michael Jackson, superstar king of pop; and Mrs Slocombe.

When actress Mollie Sugden died last week at 86, a comic icon went with her. And so, too, did a slice of the long, proud British tradition of double entendre.

When writer Jeremy Lloyd and producer David Croft hit the BBC viewing public with Are You Being Served? in 1972, it tapped in to a national obsession for innuendo long nourished by much having things off and getting things up in the Carry On films, then at the height of their popularity. There was nothing the British audience liked better than some slapstick with a bit of slap and tickle thrown in.

So it was that the staff of the department store, Grace Brothers, entered the living rooms of households up and down the land. Along with battleaxe Mrs Slocombe, with her rigid hair of myriad hues and love of cats, came the glamorous Miss Brahms and her much-pinched bottom and the camp Mr Humphries, who became infamous for his catchphrase "I'm free!" but was Definitely Not Gay - Croft was adamant he was just a "mummy's boy".

It was all good, clean family fun, you see. Although the show was criticised for its bawdy content, it was a family favourite and attracted audiences of more than 20 million, hooked on all that double entendre. Even the title was a bit ooooh-err-missus, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, how's your father.

But despite its exotic connotations, the double entendre is a singularly British affair. My substantial Collins dictionary (it's a big un!) cites it as "a word, phrase etc that can be interpreted in two ways, esp. having one meaning that is indelicate". My Collins French-English dictionary - not quite as large but still a fine figure of a dictionary - doesn't include the expression in the French bit, but translates it from English as "ambiguité". It seems that not only did the Brits feel the need to cover up their naughty bits with ambiguity, they also veiled it in another language for good measure. You know what those foreigners were like in the 1970s, after all. They were aaaaawful.

Alas, by the time the staff of Grace Brothers finally cashed up in 1985, the show was well past its sell-by date. Croft and Perry returned to the format for a 1992 spin-off, but things weren't the same. Times had changed. Something had happened to the viewing public and it was probably Benny Hill. Double entendre was out of fashion and TV audiences were being treated to comedy that was far more direct. Hill was dubbed "the masterof the single entendre" and comedians ever since have been trying to shock the public with explicit humour.

Thirty years ago, the nation tittered when Mrs Slocombe said: "It's a wonder I'm here at all. My pussy got soaking wet. I had to dry it out in front of the fire."

In the 21st century, audiences have been denuded of all innocence. Hence when Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, in the wake of the Brand-Ross-Sachs affair, quoted comic Frankie Boyle in the now legendary haunted-pussy moment, there was no ambiguity. She was, of course, using the line - with great effect and as a deliberate shock tactic - to highlight BBC standards, pressing director-general Mark Thompson on what was acceptable for the BBC to broadcast.

Taste and decency have been a thorn in BBC side of late and Auntie Beeb may yet rue the day the double entendre died.

So rest in peace, Mrs Slocombe. I'm sure you'll grace our screens once more when the reruns start.