# Jeremy Lloyd
**Jeremy Lloyd** (John Jeremy Lloyd, 22 July 1930 – 22 December 2014) was an English comedy writer and actor, best remembered as co-creator, with David Croft, of the BBC television sitcoms *Are You Being Served?* (1972–1985) and *'Allo 'Allo!* (1982–1992)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). Both shows relied heavily on innuendo, double meanings and slapstick, and both ran for over a decade on BBC television[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 22 July 1930, Danbury, Essex, England; 22 December 2014, aged 84[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd) |
| Signature works | *Are You Being Served?* (BBC, 1972–1985, 69 episodes) and *'Allo 'Allo!* (BBC, 1982–1992), both co-created with David Croft[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) |
| Source of *Are You Being Served?* | His time as a suit salesman in the Gents' Natty Suiting department at Simpsons of Piccadilly, London[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) • [3](https://littletheatresouthport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/67-8-Allo-Allo.pdf) |
| American work | Writer and performer on NBC's *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*; two Emmy nominations for episodes aired in 1969[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd) |
| Other creations | *Captain Beaky* poems, album and books (1980); the song reached No 5 in the UK singles chart[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) • [4](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/jeremy-lloyd-estate/) |
| Honor | O.B.E. in the 2013 New Year's honors list for services to British comedy[4](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/jeremy-lloyd-estate/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd) |
| Death | Died in hospital of pneumonia[5](https://nos.nl/artikel/2010420-comedy-schrijver-lloyd-allo-allo-overleden) |
## Early life
Lloyd was born in Danbury, Essex, the son of an army colonel, [Eric Lloyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-lloyd), and a dancing Tiller Girl, Margaret (nee Lees); his parents parted shortly after his birth[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). He was raised by his grandmother in Didsbury, Manchester, and described his boarding school years as "quite the unhappiest days of my life"[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). The Television Academy biography also records that he grew up in Manchester and held a number of odd jobs before achieving success in television[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd).
He worked as a plumber's mate and a light-bulb inspector before taking what he called the post of "junior slave in the Gents' Natty Suiting department" at Simpsons in [Piccadilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/piccadilly), London. It was there that he first heard the phrases that later became the catchphrases "I'm free!" and "Are you being served?" His father considered the job improper, so Lloyd became a paint salesman[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## The buoy incident and entry into writing
In the 1950s, while working as a paint salesman, Lloyd was sent to investigate a buoy in the Thames estuary at [Dead Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/dead-man)'s Reach. He stepped onto the buoy to inspect its anti-rust coating, the buoy began to roll under his feet, and the boat due to return him to [Greenwich](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenwich) disappeared over the horizon. A German cargo vessel's crew reported seeing a bowler-hatted Englishman, 6 ft 4 in tall and carrying an umbrella, walking very slowly for his life across the water; they rescued him[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
After the episode he resolved to take up writing. He wrote a film script about the [Loch Ness](https://www.edgepedia.org/loch-ness) monster called *What a Whopper!*, drove to [Pinewood Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/pinewood-studios) two weeks later, and persuaded its executive producer Earl St John to buy it. The film was made in 1961 as a vehicle for [Adam Faith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-faith), and Lloyd parlayed it into a gag-writing career, first for Jon Pertwee and then for BBC light entertainment performers including Dickie Henderson and Morecambe and Wise[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## Acting and Hollywood
Lloyd combined acting with writing. He appeared in *School for Scoundrels* (1960), *Doctor in Clover* (1966), and two Beatles films, *A Hard Day's Night* (1964) and *Help!* (1965)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). In the late 1960s he moved to California, where he was both a writer and performer on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*, receiving two Emmy nominations as a writer for a pair of episodes that aired in 1969[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd).
Director Joseph Losey sought him for the aristocrat role opposite [Dirk Bogarde](https://www.edgepedia.org/dirk-bogarde) in *The Servant* (1963); Lloyd declined, and [James Fox](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-fox) took the part[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## Are You Being Served?
In 1970 Lloyd married the actor [Joanna Lumley](https://www.edgepedia.org/joanna-lumley); the marriage lasted from May to September. She suggested he write a sitcom based on his experiences at Simpsons, and he wrote to David Croft, co-creator with [Jimmy Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-perry) of *Dad's Army*, proposing what became *Are You Being Served?*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). A Westminster University study of the show records that Croft was approached by Lloyd, who had the idea for a comedy series set in a department store based on his own work experience[6](https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/a5832101106488602a9a399425c04257ee079aadff40da4f814bb96d12f538be/8536213/Phillips.pdf).
The sitcom ran on the BBC from 1972 to 1985, for 69 episodes, set in the ladies' and gents' clothing departments of the fictional Grace Brothers department store. It starred [Mollie Sugden](https://www.edgepedia.org/mollie-sugden) as Mrs Slocombe, John Inman as Mr Humphries, and [Wendy Richard](https://www.edgepedia.org/wendy-richard) as Miss Brahms[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). Croft said he and Lloyd "went as far as we possibly could without over-stepping the mark", placing the sexual tensions of a newly liberated society inside an old-fashioned world of clear-cut morality so that audiences could be titillated but not threatened[6](https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/a5832101106488602a9a399425c04257ee079aadff40da4f814bb96d12f538be/8536213/Phillips.pdf). A sequel, *Grace and Favour*, followed in 1992–93[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## 'Allo 'Allo!
Lloyd and Croft's second collaboration, *'Allo 'Allo!*, was set in a wartime cafe in occupied France and starred [Gorden Kaye](https://www.edgepedia.org/gorden-kaye) as cafe owner René Artois, Carmen Silvera as his wife Edith, and [Vicki Michelle](https://www.edgepedia.org/vicki-michelle) as Yvette Carte-Blanche[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). It ran on the BBC from 1982 to 1992, reaching nearly 90 episodes, and proved, in the Guardian's account, even more successful than *Are You Being Served?*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). The Dutch broadcaster NOS reports that Lloyd and Croft devised the first six series together, after which Croft stopped and Lloyd continued with Paul Adam[5](https://nos.nl/artikel/2010420-comedy-schrijver-lloyd-allo-allo-overleden).
The show was accused of trivialising war, but the BBC sold it to Germany, where its depiction of Nazis as bumbling may have helped its reception[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). The catchphrase "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once", spoken by Michelle of the Resistance, gave Lloyd the title of his 1993 memoir[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## Other work
Lloyd wrote the detective series *Whodunnit?* (1973–74), the sitcoms *Oh Happy Band* (1980) and *Come Back Mrs Noah* (1977–78), and the novel *The Adventures of Captain Dangerfield* (1973)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). He was most proud of *Captain Beaky and His Band*, animal characters including Hissing Sid, Batty Bat and Timid Toad, which began as poems about animals written while he was acting and became a best-selling children's book[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd) • [3](https://littletheatresouthport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/67-8-Allo-Allo.pdf). With illustrations by Keith Michell and music by Jim Parker, the *Captain Beaky* song peaked at No 5 in the UK singles chart in 1980 after heavy play on Radio 1 by his friend Noel Edmonds[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). A Royal Albert Hall revival in 2011 featured Lumley and Roger Moore[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## Personal life and death
Lloyd married four times: the model Dawn Bailey (divorced 1962), Joanna Lumley in 1970, the actor Collette Northrop in 1992, and, earlier in 2014, the interior designer Lizzy Moberly, who survived him[1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd). He died in hospital of pneumonia on 22 December 2014, aged 84[5](https://nos.nl/artikel/2010420-comedy-schrijver-lloyd-allo-allo-overleden) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd).
## References
1. [Jeremy Lloyd obituary, The Guardian (Stuart Jeffries, 23 December 2014)](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/23/jeremy-lloyd)
2. [Jeremy Lloyd, Television Academy biography](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jeremy-lloyd)
3. [Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft programme notes, Little Theatre Southport](https://littletheatresouthport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/67-8-Allo-Allo.pdf)
4. [Jeremy Lloyd, Independent Talent](https://www.independenttalent.com/writers/jeremy-lloyd-estate/)
5. [Comedy-schrijver Lloyd ('Allo, 'Allo!) overleden, NOS (23 December 2014)](https://nos.nl/artikel/2010420-comedy-schrijver-lloyd-allo-allo-overleden)
6. [David Croft and Are You Being Served?, Westminster Research (Phillips)](https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/a5832101106488602a9a399425c04257ee079aadff40da4f814bb96d12f538be/8536213/Phillips.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Playwrights, dramatists, and screen writers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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