Gourmet Night

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“Gourmet Night”
Fawlty Towers episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 5
Written by John Cleese & Connie Booth
Directed by John Howard Davies
Guest stars Allan Cuthbertson
Original airdate 17 October 1975
Episode chronology
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List of Fawlty Towers episodes

"Gourmet Night" is the fifth episode in the first series of the BBC TV sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Basil is trying to climb up the social ladder, and with it, the hotel. When VIPs of Torquay visit for a gourmet night, Basil's new Greek chef gets drunk, and once again teetering on a nervous breakdown, Basil tries desperately to repair the situation...

[edit] Cast

Episode credited cast:

With:

[edit] Plot

Basil, always keen to mingle with the upper echelons of Torquay society, organises a Gourmet Night. In an attempt to keep the clientèle of the upper crust, he includes a "no riff-raff" condition in the newspaper announcement of the event. This leads to a total of just 8 people registering for the dinner. On the evening of the event, a party of four cancels as one of them is ill. That leaves four people at gourmet night: Colonel and Mrs. Hall, and Lionel Twitchen and his wife.

Fawlty Towers has a new chef named Kurt who has taken a liking to Manuel. As the episode unfolds we discover that Kurt has a romantic interest in Manuel, but Manuel is not interested, so Kurt seeks solace in wine, unbeknownst to Basil, as the dinner guests are arriving...

Basil displays his extreme social awkwardness as he becomes over sensitive to Colonel Hall's introduction to the other guests. The Colonel has a twitch which causes his neck and head to convulse violently. When Fawlty attempts to introduce the two couples he gets hung up on the name of "Lionel Twitchen" and proceeds to faint instead of actually introducing them, thereby causing maximum embarrassment for himself. Mr Twitchen realises what has happened, and diplomatically mispronounces his names as 'Twychen' when introducing himself.

Basil serves the trifle
Basil serves the trifle

When Basil realises that his new gourmet chef has passed out drunk, he arranges to serve the guests food from a nearby gourmet restaurant. However, due to restricted availability, the 'gourmet' menu ends up with only three possible dishes for Basil's guests to choose from: Duck with orange, duck with cherries, or 'duck surprise' (duck without oranges or cherries). Basil proceeds to tell them that if they "don't like duck, they're rather stuck!"

Basil's attempts to obtain the food are complicated. The first duck is ruined when Manuel's foot gets lodged in it. The second attempt is hampered by the poor maintenance of Basil's car, which finally breaks down on his way back with the food; the scene ends with Basil screaming at the car and giving the vehicle fair warning, followed by a "Damn good thrashing" with a tree branch.

After a tiresome wait, the guests are finally presented with the 'duck' which they have so eagerly awaited, only to discover that it has turned into a trifle. Basil is so surprised that he searches through the trifle with his hands to see if there is a hidden duck. When asked to explain this, Basil deadpans "Duck's off, sorry."

[edit] Awards

A 1999 poll for NatWest car insurance voted the scene in this episode where Basil attacks his car with a tree branch as "most momentous motoring moment".[1]

[edit] Trivia

  • The first time in the programme we see a chef at Fawlty Towers, and the last time until Terry, the regular character in series two.
  • The scene which ends with Basil giving the vehicle a "Damn good thrashing" with a tree branch has been immortalised in the form of a miniature model car, and Basil swinging the branch, by the Corgi toy company.
  • On the second return journey from Andre's restaurant the road is dry when Basil pulls in behind the other vehicle blocking the road. However, when he reverses out the road is clearly soaking wet as if there had just been a downpour.
  • Roughly 17 minutes into the episode the shadow of the microphone boom is visible moving across the wall as Basil sits in front of the typewriter.
  • When Manuel bursts through the kitchen door from the dining room and knocks the duck onto the floor, a stagehand can be seen crouching inside the dining room area of the set.
  • Basil's car in this episode is an Austin 1300 Estate.[2]
  • André's Restaurant is in fact 294 Preston Road, Harrow.[2]
  • The episode's best remembered scene where Basil attacks his car with a tree branch was also filmed in Harrow in the Kenton area; namely Mentmore Close.
  • In an external scene with Basil, the shopfronts have Torquay addresses and phone numbers.
  • The thrashing of the car is mentioned in Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion.

[edit] References

  • Fawlty Towers: A Worshipper's Companion, Leo Publishing, ISBN 91-973661-8-8
  • The Complete Fawlty Towers by John Cleese & Connie Booth (1988, Methuen, London) ISBN 0-413-18390-4 (the complete text)
  1. ^ BBC News | UK | Basil's road rage tops poll
  2. ^ a b Joe. Gourmet Night. Espisode Guides. Fawltysite.NET.
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