Mr. Humphries is never elaborated upon. Though Mr. Humphries exhibits many of the behaviors typical of a gay stereotype, his true sexual orientation is never explicitly confirmed in the series. The reticence was a necessity given prevailing attitudes at the time the series was produced: after the first five episodes of "Are You Being Served?", a senior BBC executive ordered David Croft to "Get rid of the poof" from the show – Croft declined, saying: "If the poof goes, I go." Many jokes throw Mr Humphries into heterosexual clinches. At one point he is asked to fill in for Mrs. Slocombe at
Captain Peacock Originally, Captain Peacock appeared to be just like the Grace Brothers management: old-fashioned, a sense of station, snobbish, upper-class, posh accent, who did everything by the book. However, as the series progressed, Peacock began to side more with the sales staff and go on strike, whenever pay rises did not come or cuts came, and he helped in taking charge of parties and offering comfort, most notably in "Forward Mr Grainger", "A Change Is As Good As A Rest", "Founder's Day", "Goodbye Mr Grainger", "The Club", "Anything You Can Do", "Is It Catching", "A Personal Problem", "Sit Out", "The Erotic