You Have Been Watching - Lloyd & Croft Quiz

Answer: Simpsons

As a young man, Jeremy Lloyd worked as a junior assistant in the menswear department at Simpsons in Piccadilly. His memories of this period in his life formed the basis of "Are You Being Served?", with some of the characters based on people he knew and worked with at Simpsons.

It was while collaborating with David Croft on the scripts for a show called "It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling" that Lloyd suggested the idea of a department store based sitcom. Croft liked the idea, and the pair subsequently co-wrote a pilot episode.

Answer: Terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The pilot episode was originally produced as part of the BBC's "Comedy Playhouse" series, but as Corporation executives did not favour the show, it was shelved. However, when disaster struck at the Munich Olympics, the BBC was required to rearrange its schedule, and find alternative programming.

This led to the airing of "Are You Being Served?" on 8 September 1972. The favourable public response to the pilot resulted in the commissioning of a full series, which started transmission in March 1973, with the pilot being repeated as episode 1.

Answer: Mr Grainger

Ernest Grainger is a 40-year veteran of Grace Brothers, who is notably crotchety and has a tendency to fall asleep during the working day. The only person capable of successfully waking him is Mr Humphries. Mr Grainger was portrayed by actor Arthur Brough for the first five series, after which he retired from acting following the death of his wife. Mr Grainger was replaced as head of menswear by Mr Tebbs, played by James Hayter.

Answer: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Jeremy Lloyd appeared in a single season of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" between September 1969 and March 1970, alongside such performers as Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn. In addition to his being a regular performer on the show, he was a contributing writer, credited on all 26 episodes of the season. Upon leaving America, he returned to the UK, where he wrote a series for Harry Secombe.

After this, he was cast in "It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling", during which time he introduced the idea of a department store sitcom to David Croft.

Answer: Mollie Sugden

"Come Back Mrs. Noah" revolved around the idea of a housewife winning the opportunity to view Britain's new space exploration vehicle, 'Britannia Seven', and accidentally launching it into space. The supporting cast featured several regular collaborators from previous David Croft sitcoms, including Ian Lavender, Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles, as well as Gordon Kaye, who would subsequently appear in "'Allo, 'Allo!". "Come Back Mrs. Noah" lasted for a single series of six episodes, with the first broadcast in December 1977 and the remaining five between August and September 1978.

Answer: Airport

"Oh Happy Band!" was the last regular screen appearance of comedian and ventriloquist Harry Worth. Unlike other series authored by David Croft, it did not feature many cast members common to his previous works, the exception being Harold Bennett, who appeared in "Dad's Army" and "Are You Being Served?", although later collaborator Gordon Kaye was originally approached to play the lead.

It ran for a single series of six episodes, broadcast between September and October 1980.

Answer: Goodbye, Mr Chips

An uncredited David Croft appeared as Perkins, the greengrocer's boy in "Goodbye, Mr Chips", which he described as "the beginning, middle and end of my film career". However, he subsequently made a handful of television appearances in the early 1950s, before moving to the production side, first at Tyne Tees Television, and then at the BBC from the early 1960s.

He served as associate producer for two years on "This Is Your Life", before achieving his first big hit sitcom, "Hugh & I", for which he was the producer.

Answer: Secret Army

"Secret Army" shares many characteristics with "'Allo, 'Allo!", such as the setting of a cafe, through which the Resistance smuggle Allied airmen back to England; the cafe owner conducting an affair despite his wife's constant presence; a bed-ridden woman upstairs; the cafe pianist who is also a forger; and hostility between the German Army and the Gestapo. "'Allo, 'Allo!" ran for a total of nine series between 1982 and 1992, with Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft co-writing the show up to the end of Series 6, after which Lloyd collaborated with writer Paul Adam.

Answer: Crabtree

Officer Crabtree, played by Arthur Bostrom, is noted for his dubious mastery of the French language, frequently mispronouncing vowel sounds when he speaks. This is a running gag throughout the series, and led to one of the show's most enduring catchphrases, when Crabtree greets people with "Good moaning" (even in the evening).

In 2007, it was revealed that Crabtree's unique pattern of speech was based on former UK Prime Minister Edward Heath, who spoke fluent French, but with a pronounced English accent.

Answer: Heinrich Himmler

The sinister Herr Flick, head of the local Gestapo, is a man feared by French and German alike, aside from Private Helga, with whom he is in a slightly twisted relationship. Played for the majority of the series by Richard Gibson, at the start of Series 9 Flick undergoes plastic surgery to avoid recognition by the Allies, which was used to explain a change of actor and the character was subsequently portrayed by David Janson.