The British TV comedy ‘Are You Being Served?’ was, according to a story in the Australian (14 April 07), always compulsory viewing in the Stuttaford household, and the recently deceased John Inman was the obvious star of the series.

Stuttaford says that some of his homosexual patients were initially rather cross because he exaggerated the stereotype of the camp gay, with languid hand movements and his obvious pleasure when taking inside-leg measurements. His catchphrase "I’m free", with its obvious innuendo, became famous.

Later, even most gay campaigners joined the other 22 million avid viewers as Inman’s humour, so obviously in the pantomime tradition like that of his friend Danny La Rue, mitigated any charge that he was setting back the drive to banish discrimination.

The story says that John Inman, 71, contracted hepatitis more than two years ago, after eating food contaminated with the virus. The story goes on to say that a great advance in medicine over the past 25 years has been that both hepatitis A and B can be prevented by vaccination.

In the case of hepatitis A, the initial dose is repeated six to 12 months later with a booster. A form of the vaccination is available for children over the age of 12 months and it should become a routine injection for all those who spend their holidays abroad.