Ernest Grainger

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name	Arthur Brough
date of birth	some time in 1905
character name	Ernest Grainger
tenure on the show	1972-1977
Grainger's status	senior salesman 1972-1977
catchphrase	"do you think you invented it?"
waking-up motto	"YES I'm free!"

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Ernest Grainger, the original senior salesman of the men's clothing staff of Grace Brothers department store in the show Are You Being Served? (AYBS?), is played by Arthur Brough. Although AYBS? went through five senior salesmen before promoting Mr. Humphries to the position in 1983, Mr. Grainger remains the most popular senior of the first five, and not just because he stayed on the show the longest or was the first senior salesman. Mr. Grainger is definitely the most hilarious of the five seniors (although some would argue that Mr. Tebbs is equally funny).

Mr. Grainger's main vehicle for making us laugh is his age: his very gestures and mannerisms are hilarious, especially when he gets looks of shock on his face (see above photo); we laugh at his eating habits, which have become extremely messy due to old age; and we laugh at jokes about his truss, his spare teeth, and his being "past it." We laugh because Mr. Grainger dozes off at the drop of a hat and we laugh when Mr. Humphries startles him into alertness with "Are you free, Mr. Grainger?" We ALSO laugh whenever Mr. Humphries tells Mr. Lucas to fetch a calming glass of water for Mr. Grainger whenever he is too riled to speak. Mr. Grainger (born in 1909) is at his funniest during staff think-tank meetings, where his absurd non sequiturs and general absent-minded behavior ensure that the meetings are consistently ineffective in accomplishing a thing.

Despite Mr. Grainger's feebleness, he constantly reminds us that old people aren't always as "past it" as we think. His non sequitur references to Bing Crosby and other absent-minded remarks during meetings may be the sign of a failing brain but they are also are an indicator of Ernest's vast experience, which only comes with age. Ernest's past itself is a very good reason for not taking old people for granted: feeble as he may be now, Mr. Grainger used to be a dancer as well as an entertainer for the troops in World War II. Also, when Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas express their surprise after learning that Mr. Grainger had gotten a girl in trouble in his earlier years, Ernest quite rightly says: "Do you think you invented it?"

When Mrs. Slocombe first moved her department (Ladies' Intimate Apparel) onto Mr. Grainger's floor, Mr. Grainger was quite antagonistic towards her. After having the whole floor devoted to men's wear for the longest time, losing a third of his floor to ladies' wear rankled strongly. As the episodes progressed, however, Mr. Grainger and Mrs. Slocombe did become friendly and caring towards each other. Even so the two continue to have their disagreements: theirs is a sort of love-hate relationship. Captain Peacock is the fellow staff member Mr. Grainger is closest to; after Captain Peacock is Mr. Humphries.

Along with Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spooner, Mr. Grainger is the most abused of the Grace Brothers staff (but of the three, Mr. Grainger is the one who least deserves it). He nearly loses his job in THREE episodes ("The Clock"/"Goodbye Mr. Grainger"/"A Change is As Good As a Rest"), and when the entire clothing staff protest in "Coffee Morning" both Captain Peacock and Mr. Rumbold decide quite unfairly to make an example of only Mr. Grainger.

Although it doesn't do justice to Mr. Grainger to generalize on why we love him, basically we as an audience enjoy watching a lovable old man fall asleep in important meetings, dribble custard down his chin, and sing "I Can Mend Your Umbrella" at the mention of background music. ^_^