Basil the Rat

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“Basil The Rat”
Fawlty Towers episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 6
Written by John Cleese & Connie Booth
Directed by Bob Spiers
Production no. 12
Original airdate 25 October 1979
Episode chronology
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"The Anniversary" "n/a"
List of Fawlty Towers episodes

"Basil the Rat" is the sixth and final episode of the second series of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the final episode of the programme as a whole. Unlike all other eleven episodes of Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat" ran for 40 minutes.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Basil is surprised when he finds a man sniffing around the hotel kitchen and promptly begins taunting him as a "scavenger gourmet". However, it doesn't take long before it is revealed that this is no "scavenger" but an inspector from the Public Health Department, and that the Fawlty Towers kitchen is far below acceptable health and hygiene standards. The inspector gives Basil and Sybil just one day to rectify these and any other problems the hotel may have, or else face immediate closure. Thus a race against time begins that sees Basil becoming characteristically paranoid and frantic. After listening to Sybil rattle off a demanding list of things that need to be fixed, Basil races off to engage the help of Manuel in removing "two dead pigeons from the water tank". However, just as Basil is completing his instructions, he discovers a hassle he hadn't banked on - Manuel is harbouring a pet rat! It now becomes imperative that the health inspector does not discover this rat when he returns in 24 hours, and from here chaos ensues!

[edit] Cast

With:

  • Sabina Franklyn as Quentina
  • Melody Lang as Mrs. Taylor
  • David Neville as Ronald
  • John Quarmby as Mr. Carnegie
  • Stuart Sherwin as a Guest
  • James Taylor as Mr. Taylor

[edit] Plot

The episode begins when Sybil and Basil arrive back at the hotel to find that an inspector from the public health authority, Mr. Carnegie, is examining the cleanliness of the kitchen. At first Basil does not realise that Mr. Carnegie is actually an inspector and therefore introduces him to Sybil as a scavenger gourmet - because when Basil walks in the kitchen Mr. Carnegie is crouching in front of an open fridge sniffing a plate of meat.

Mr. Carnegie adopts a firm and serious tone with Basil because the premises do not meet the standards set out by the authority. He reels off a list of problems, not only in the kitchen but all over the hotel including the fact that there are two dead pigeons in the water tank. Mr. Carnegie informs Basil that he expects all the problems to have been rectified when he returns the following day.

Sybil, Polly and Terry all get to work straight away whilst Basil goes upstairs to get Manuel - who is relaxing in his room playing the guitar. Basil bursts into Manuel's room and tells him to get the pigeons out of the water tank. However, Basil notices that Manuel is keeping a rat in a small cage in his room. Manuel tries to persuade Basil that the animal is in fact a 'filigree' Siberian hamster. Basil insists that the rat must go and takes the cage from Manuel's room and carries it downstairs.

Manuel is deeply unhappy that Basil has removed his pet but Sybil agrees that it cannot stay in the hotel. Polly tells Basil that she has a friend who will look after the rat and that Manuel would still be able to visit it. Basil, by this time under the impression that the rat has been taken to Polly's friend, is unaware that Polly and Manuel have in fact only taken the rat into an outbuilding behind the hotel. Terry, who is the only other person aware that the rat is still on site, gives Manuel food and water to take out to the rat, which we now learn is called "Basil".

Manuel realises that the rat has escaped and informs Polly and Terry, who go on a rat hunt around the hotel. The Major, who is reading his newspaper in the hotel bar, catches sight of the rat on one of the bar tables and goes to get his shotgun in order to shoot it dead. Basil speaks to the Major who informs him that he has seen the rat, prompting Basil to realise that Polly had indeed not actually taken the rat away at all. A full scale hunt for the rat starts around the hotel. Basil applies rat poison to a slice of veal and puts it on the floor in the kitchen.

Mr. Carnegie arrives back at the hotel to re-inspect as the rat hunt is in full swing. The sound of a gun firing is heard and everyone rushes into the bar. The Major insists that the rat has come back, but because of the presence of the health inspector Basil silences the Major and downplays the event - assuring Mr. Carnegie that the Major was in fact shooting a starling out of the bar window.


Meanwhile more problems are unfolding in the kitchen, where Polly knocks over a tub containing slices of veal onto the kitchen floor. Terry picks them all up, not realising that he has also picked up the slice which is covered in rat poison. As the veal is cooked and then served to guests in the dining room it suddenly dawns on Basil that one of the slices has got rat poison on it. Basil announces to the guests that the veal is off (spoiled) and tells Polly to retake their order.

Mr. Carnegie, having finished the inspection and declaring that the hotel is now up to standard, says that he intends to have lunch at the hotel and that he had noticed the veal and would like to try it. A sequence of events unfolds in which Polly, Terry, Basil, Sybil and the hotel cat all try to ascertain which slices of veal are safe to eat. Meanwhile Manuel has spotted the rat under Ronald and Quentina's table. He tries to pick it up whilst taking their order and eventually manages to retrieve the rat, subsequently placing it in a box of cream crackers.

Mr. Carnegie asks for cheese and crackers, and when Basil opens the box of crackers there is the rat looking straight at Mr. Carnegie. A stunned, silent Mr. Carnegie stares at the rat and is asked by Basil, "Would you care for rat?" Basil then faints and has to be dragged out of the dining room by Manuel. The scene ends with Polly and Sybil carrying on nonchalantly, leaving Mr. Carnegie unsure of whether he really saw the rat.

The fate of the hotel is unknown. Whether or not Fawlty Towers was shut down is left up to the fans' imagination

[edit] Trivia

  • In this episode, during exterior footage, the entrance sign saying 'Wooburn Grange Country Club' can be clearly seen. This was the third time in the series to feature this error[citation needed], as the sign was also seen in The Kipper and the Corpse and The Anniversary.
  • This final episode was recorded six months after the rest of the series, because of a strike at the BBC.[citation needed]
  • Andrew Sachs has claimed[citation needed] that the BBC strike gave the actors the luxury of committing extra time to the episode before taping it - one key decision made during this extra time was to accentuate Manuel's call of "Basil!" to the rat, thus clarifying a previously obscured plot point.
  • Andrew Sachs later married Melody Lang who appears in this episode.[citation needed]
  • Sachs claims that this was his favourite episode.
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