Critics and viewers were left unimpressed with the BBC’s remake of Are You Being Served?
The legendary British sitcom, set in a department store, was revived – with a new cast – on Sunday night.
Written by Derren Litten, the creator of ITV’s Benidorm, the show featured Sherrie Hewson as Mrs Slocombe, John Challis as Captain Peacock, Roy Barraclough as Mr Grainger and Justin Edwards as Mr Rumbold.
Mr Humphries (Jason Watkins) and Mr Conway (Kayode Ewumi)
(BBC/Scott Kershaw)
Viewers were not keen on the BBC1 show, which was followed by a one-off Porridge special as part of the BBC’s sitcom season.
The BBC have tried to improve #PORRIDGE and #AreYouBeingServed and failed.What's next in this beeb fad for retro remaking? Jim'll fix it ?
— James Bailey (@James_Bailey) August 28, 2016
Dear God @BBCOne is this the best you can manage? I would like a refund on my licence fee. Love C : ) xx #AreYouBeingServed
— Carole Matthews (@carolematthews) August 28, 2016
If Brexit has brought us 'British Culture' in excruciating form of a sad rehash of truly ghastly Are You Being Served I'm staying in Crete.
— Joolz Denby (@JoolzDenby) August 29, 2016
#AreYouBeingServed A massive fail by everyone involved. Pointless
— Brendan 🇪🇺 (@Brendan_Surrey) August 29, 2016
But there were some satisfied viewers.
Thought reviving #AreYouBeingServed was mad. Then I saw the cast & set, then I watched it. I laughed. It's going to be a series isn't it?
— Cameron Yarde Jnr (@CameronYardeJnr) August 28, 2016
Boo! @Kevin_Maguire were you watching the same programme as everyone else? #AreYouBeingServed was splendid!
— James Max (@thejamesmax) August 28, 2016
Am I alone in really enjoying the remake of are you being served? Critics seem very harsh. #AreYouBeingServed
— Willy Nelson (@willynelson72) August 29, 2016
The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Hogan only gave the show two stars, saying it was a “turgid, interminable half-hour” which made “Mrs Brown’s Boys look like PG Wodehouse”.
“It wasn’t so much that the humour was un-PC or especially offensive. It was just tired and limp, like an iceberg lettuce long past its sell-by date,” he wrote.
Are You Being Served? (BBC/Scott Kershaw)
“There was a lazy reliance on lavatorial humour and casual misogyny.”
The sitcoms had been “dusted down decades later to look like lumbering dinosaurs,” he added.
Chortle’s Steve Bennett wrote that “they should have let sleeping pussies lie” – referring to one of the famous jokes from the original sitcom.
Miss Croft (Jorgie Porter), and Captain Peacock (John Challis) (BBC/Scott Kershaw)
He added: “Quite what that plot means is anyone’s guess” and “Every joke is predictable, tired or forced…”
The Guardian’s Stuart Jeffries called the return “spirited”.
He added: “Litten, sensibly, didn’t airbrush the show, but fondly disinterred its double entendres. Deck covered in seamen? Check. Mrs Slocombe clutching Jimmy Connors’ balls? Check. Taking Miss Brahms up the Regal? Check.
“Thank heavens it’s only a one-off, though: a little of Mr Humphries mincing in his mother’s kitten heels goes a long way.”
Digital Spy’s Morgan Jeffery wrote: “The experience is still akin to watching a tribute band – entertaining enough, but never coming close to competing with your memories.”
Fletch (Kevin Bishop) and Officer Meekie (Mark Bonnar) in Porridge (BBC/Scott Kershaw)
In the second of the two revivals, Porridge was deemed more successful.
It returned with the show’s original writers, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, featuring Fletch’s grandson, also known as Fletch, imprisoned for a series of cyber-crimes.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article