There were so many funny aspects of S4E5 "Fifty Years On".

I've watched the entire series many times, and I'm almost convinced that this episode holds the record for the most laughs by the audience. It was amazing how much they could pack into a half hour episode, and this show was one of the best in terms of content.

It also must be close to holding the record for the longest canteen scene in the entire series.

First they had Mrs. Slocombe and Miss Brahms discussing how to let the staff know about the upcoming birthday.

Then the entire staff joins them and talks about eating out while Mrs. Slocombe tries to drop hints about her birthday.

Then Mrs. Slocombe leaves while the rest of the staff discuss birthday arrangements and how to find out her actual age.

Then Mrs. Slocombe comes back while they reminisce about early memories.

All in all, the scene goes from 5:38 to 13:12 for a total of 7 minutes and 34 seconds.

Also in S4E5, it is hilarious that they go to so much trouble to find out her age and her first name.

There was no need to know her first name, especially since she obviously wanted people calling her Mrs. Slocombe instead. It actually fits in perfectly with the song as it has the exact number of syllables required: "Happy birthday Mrs. Slocombe, happy birthday to you!".

Second, people make birthday cakes all the time without any age depicted on it. Again, Mrs. Slocombe obviously did not want people knowing this (just like her first name), and so there was no reason to have it displayed on the cake.

Lastly, both of these pieces of information should have been readily available in Mr. Rumbold's files. If not, he should have been able to walk up to accounting/personnel and easily ask for it without Mr. Lucas having to do it secretly.

Just some funny observations regarding one of my favorite episodes.

Here's my idea on why Mr. Grainger left the men's department, which would fit in with S5E2. People assume (in canon) that he simply retired and was replaced by Mr. Tebbs.

However, I much prefer the idea that he actually DID finally get a transfer to the Toy department in order to sell trains, only this time he was able to take over as a senior instead of a junior.

He greatly enjoyed his last couple of years at Grace Brothers and sold a record number of train sets before eventually retiring with his full salary and pension.

In S2E1 "The Clock", Mr. Grace tells him that "in another five years" he'll be getting the cuckoo clock and retiring. That means by season 6, he was only 1-2 years away from official retirement. I like to think that he stayed two more years and then left, this time with a much nicer retirement party up in the official restaurant instead of down on the department floor.

This always bugged me, even though it's one of my favorite episodes. I understand not wanting to use the company's money to throw a retirement party, however there's nothing stopping Mr. Grace from using his OWN money to give his very long-time, loyal employees a nice party. It would even work in his favor, as it would show junior employees that Mr. Grace actually appreciates his workers.