Young Mister Grace has a book in the closing titles of 'Fire Practice' which betrays just how makeshift things are at Grace Brothers when it comes to safety regulations. Though someone has probably had fun colouring in the lettering.
Then there's the very genuine concern that when there really is a fire, the bell rings once then remains silent, when it really ought to be going continuously.
We have some business with wedgies, with Mrs Slocombe, Miss Brahms and Mister Humphries all giving them a go. Mister Grainger experiments with some curly shoes and Mr Rumbold gets an unexpected wig in his 'Kojak' area...
There are various attempts at doing a Fireman's Lift which don't quite lead to the expected result and Mister Harman gets to demonstrate his best Myrtle whilst Arthur English shows off his ability to stay in character even when mangling a line.
There's a very odd image planted in the mind of the viewer about the effects that meringues have on Mrs Grainger and the Emir's goat seems to take a fancy to the Grace Brothers bag.
Mister Humphries perks up at the knowledge that 'man may touch man' which makes up for the problems with his gummy drawers at the start of the episode.
We also get to learn that Mister Lucas has capped teeth, though the exact details of why they've ended up this way remain a mystery. Though his erratic manhandling of Mrs Slocombe means he's probably also end up with a dodgy back at some point.
'Fire Practice' is quite a fun one, and the whole business with the Emir will later inspire Derek Griffiths' encounter with a balloon at the start of the movie. But we'll leave that up to the individual as to whether this is a good thing or not...
We've only just noticed that our weekly schedule for 'Are You Being Served?' means that we'll be watching 'The Father Christmas Affair' at almost exactly the right moment (give or take 42 years), but that's more down to luck than judgement!
Our video about 'Fire Practice' can be seen here.
(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)
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