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
Mr. Humphries fireman's lift, and in one instance where a delegation of Middle Eastern businessmen visits the store, he is very interested to know more about their homeland when they say that men may touch other men, but not women. However, sometimes Mr Humphries is quite taken aback by gay (or seemingly gay) customers, almost to the point of repulsion. For example, when he is to direct a commercial for Grace Brothers, Mr. Humphries pointedly rejects the advances of the camp cameraman (played by Gorden Kaye). He states to Kaye's character that a couple of gin and tonics in a bar doesn't