Cold Comfort - S2-E2
Other mistake: At the very beginning you can see a girl in the background with long hair, pausing to speak and gesture to someone off stage, before she removes the sheet draped over the counter.
Are You Being Served? (1972)
1 other mistake in Cold Comfort
Starring: Frank Thornton, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard
Genres: Comedy
Continuity mistake: The Gentlemen's and Ladies' Department is on the first, third, or fourth floor of Grace Brothers, depending on the episode.
Mr. Humphries: I'm free!
Trivia: The "lift voice" heard during the theme song in each episode is that of Stephanie Gathercole, who played Mr. Rumbold's secretary in the earliest episodes.
Question: Does anyone know why Wendy Richard (Ms. Brahms) is the only one not wearing blackface for the musical number at the end of the episode?
Answer: In Britain, there was the show Black and White Minstrels which was very popular until the late 70s. The men were all blacked up, but the women weren't - hence Black and White Minstrels. It's been a while since I saw the episode to know if Mrs Slocombe was blacked up as well, but technically she shouldn't have been.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: In minstrel shows there was also a stereotype of black men preying on white women, so that's probably why she was not in black face. Also, Mrs. Slocombe is in blackface because she is an older, stout woman and she fits the "mammy" stereotype.