At the struggling Grace Brothers department store, the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s departments share a floor—and very little else willingly. Under the anxious eye of Mr Rumbold, Captain Peacock, Mrs Slocombe, Mr Humphries and their colleagues contend with difficult customers, management schemes, staff rivalries and one indignity after another, transforming everyday retail into a gleeful procession of innuendo, dressing up and exquisitely British chaos.
When Mr. Grace is killed in a tragic scuba diving accident, the Grace Brothers store is closed down. Being faced with the option of finding new jobs or early retirement, the staff take over the running of a large manor house/hotel in the English countryside, where all manor of humorous things take place.