Looking back on a special trip to Holmfirth with Frank Thornton as ‘LOTSW’ turns 50!

Last of the Summer Wine, the long-running British situation comedy written by Roy Clarke (Open All Hours, Keeping Up Appearances, Still Open All Hours, Young Hyacinth) lasted for a mere 31 seasons encompassing 295 episodes (1973-2010) and featured the trials and tribulations of three pensioners (Bill Owen as Compo, Peter Sallis as Norman Clegg and Michael Bates […]

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A 2022 Labor Day salute to the employees of Grace Brothers Department Store!

In the United States, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. We simply can’t let the long weekend pass by without paying tribute to some of the hardest working friends across the pond…the staff of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s clothing departments of Grace Brothers Department Store.

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London’s Grace Brothers Department Store set to re-open after 30+ years

While it’s been more than three decades since we last were able to walk into the retail ladies’ and gentlemen’s clothing department of London’s Grace Brothers department store, the doors appear ready to re-open in the not-too-distant future. The classic BBC comedy series, which ran from 1971 to 1985, is set for a re-boot as part […]

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Burt Kwouk, Pink Panther’s Cato and LOTSW’s Entwistle, dies at 85

Best known for playing alongside Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films, Burt Kwouk has passed away at the age of 85. While his international fame came from his recurring role as Inspector Clouseau’s sidekick, Cato, in the Pink Panther films from 1975-1993, Kwouk was a small-screen fixture from 2002-2010 starring as electrical and mechanical engineer Entwistle in Last Of The […]

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Are You Being Served…Again!

As part of their Landmark Sitcom Season celebrating 60 years of British Comedy on the BBC in 2016, the Beeb announced recently that they would be commissioning 21st century remakes of several classic British comedies including Porridge, Up Pompeii, Are You Being Served?, Good Neighbors and Keeping Up Appearances. While, unfortunately, many of the actors associated with these decades old comedy […]

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R.I.P. Nicholas Smith, a.k.a. Grace Brothers’ Cuthbert Rumbold

The last surviving member of the original Are You Being Served? cast, Nicholas Smith, has died at the age of 81. Smith starred as Cuthbert Rumbold, the manager of the fictional Grace Brothers Department Store, having appeared in every episode from 1972 to 1985. Created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, the series was […]

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A Labor Day salute to the employees of Grace Brothers Department Store

In the United States, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. While the holiday weekend also tends to […]

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