After the show completed its fifth season in 1977, all was going well when, on Easter Sunday 26 March 1978, Arthur Brough's wife of 50 years, Elizabeth, died, and the emotionally devastated Brough announced he was quitting acting. Brough stayed with his daughter for a few weeks following his wife's death and, according to his daughter, Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft made contact to say they were writing him into the next series. However, he died just two months after his wife, on 28 May 1978, in Folkestone. Croft decided not to have another actor take over the part of Mr. Grainger, so his character in Are You Being Served? was replaced by Mr. Tebbs, played by James Hayter.