List of Fawlty Towers episodes
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This is a list of episodes for the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 19 September 1975 to 25 October 1979. The first series was directed by John Howard Davies, the second by Bob Spiers.
[edit] Series One
| # | Title | Featuring | Sign reads | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Touch of Class" | Michael Gwynn as Lord Melbury and Robin Ellis as Danny Brown | FAWLTY TOWERS (the S is crooked) | 19 September 1975 |
| Basil is delighted when a member of the aristocracy, Lord Melbury, chooses to stay at the hotel. Basil fawns over Lord Melbury, while ingoring the normal guests who frequent the hotel. Unknown to Basil, however, the man is a confidence trickster who attempts to purloin Basil's collection of rare coins. As Basil's desperation to keep such an 'upstanding' guest increases, Basil becomes increasingly tolerant towards the man's behaviour, only to have the guest arrested in a CID raid on the hotel. Sign: The lettering on the sign is larger than it would be in other episodes, and the sign itself also appears to be shaped somewhat differently, thinner with a longer pointing "finger", but this may be due to its being shown at a flatter angle, which makes it appear to be pointing more at the back of the building than the front. |
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| 2 | "The Builders" | David Kelly as O'Reilly and Michael Cronin as Lurphy | FAWLTY TOWER (the L is crooked) | 26 September 1975 |
| When some work is required on the hotel lobby, Basil goes for the cheapest quote, from an Irish builder by the name of O'Reilly, the moment his wife is out of the way. O'Reilly and his workers botch the job, fitting doors where they shouldn't be and vice versa. As a result, Sybil is forced to call in a proper builder, only to suffer embarrassment when O'Reilly returns to fix the mess he made. However, Sybil soon realises that the hotel is no longer structurally sound. | ||||
| 3 | "The Wedding Party" | Trevor Adams as Alan, Yvonne Gilan as Mrs. Peignoir | FAW TY TOWER (the second W is crooked) | 3 October 1975 |
| Wherever he turns, Basil sees guests fraternising in what he considers an immoral way, while he tries to hide an infatuation with a charming French female guest. But he is the one who ends up with his trousers down in public, while the guests' behaviour turns out to have an innocent explanation. | ||||
| 4 | "The Hotel Inspectors" | Bernard Cribbins and James Cossins | FAW TY TO ER | 10 October 1975 |
| When Basil hears of hotel inspectors roaming Torquay incognito, he realises with horror that the man he has been monstering could easily be one of them. Basil spends two days in a state of paranoia as he tries to figure out whose feet he must kiss. Unfortunately none of the suspected men are actual hotel inspecters, causing Basil a lot of frustration. Featuring: Bernard Cribbins and James Cossins play men who turn out not to be hotel inspectors. |
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| 5 | "Gourmet Night" | André Maranne, Allan Cuthbertson and Ann Way | WA RTY TOWELS | 17 October 1975 |
| Basil is thrilled when local VIPs accept an invitation to a gourmet evening ("no riff-raff"). Basil then embarrasses himself and annoys the guests by addressing the short Mrs. Hall as "Mrs. Small" and fainting when introducing the Colonel, who has an unfortunate twitch, to a Lionel Twitchen. Meanwhile his new chef gets drunk and can't cook, forcing Basil to order a duck from a local restaurant. On the way to collect it, his car breaks down, and when he finally arrives back at Fawlty Towers, he finds he has accidentally collected a trifle instead of a duck. Featuring: André Maranne is Andre, Allan Cuthbertson is Colonel Hall and Ann Way is Mrs. Hall. |
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| 6 | "The Germans" | Brenda Cowling as Sister | N/A | 24 October 1975 |
| Basil is anxious when he finds out that the hotel will be having German guests. With lingering feelings about World War II, the Major doesn't seem too happy either. Basil gets hit on the head by a hanging moose head and finds himself concussed in hospital. Somehow he manages to nip back to the hotel in time to treat his German visitors to some of his unique welcoming methods. This episode is the origin of the line "Don't mention the war". Sign: This is the only episode in the entire series that did not feature the hotel as the backdrop for the titles: footage of the Northwick Park Hospital in Middlesex was used instead. Thus, the sign is not shown. |
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[edit] Series Two
The second series was transmitted three and a half years later, with the first episode being broadcast on 19 February 1979. Due to an industrial dispute at the BBC, which resulted in a strike, the final episode was not completed until well after the others, being finally shown as a one-off instalment on 25 October 1979. The cancelled episode on 19 March was replaced with a repeat of "Gourmet Night" from Series 1.
| # | Title | Featuring | Sign reads | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | "Communication Problems" | Joan Sanderson as Mrs Richards | FAWLTY TOWER (the L is crooked) - same opening shot as in "The Builders" from Series 1 | 19 February 1979 |
| The arrival of the "guest from hell" — Mrs. Richards, a rather deaf and hot-tempered widow — interferes with Basil's attempts to prevent the money he won on a racehorse from being discovered by Sybil, who disapproves of gambling. . Sign: In the second series, the anagrams were created by Ian McClane, Bob Spier's assistant floor manager. |
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| 8 | "The Psychiatrist" | Elspet Gray as Mrs Abbott, Nicky Henson as Mr Johnson and Luan Peters as Raylene Miles | WATERY FOWLS | 26 February 1979 |
| A psychiatrist and his wife — also a doctor — come to the hotel for a weekend break, and cannot help but notice the eccentricities of their host, who is perturbed when he discovers their professions. A very attractive Australian also visits, but has many awkward interactions with Fawlty, as he tries to catch a nonpaying guest. | ||||
| 9 | "Waldorf Salad" | Bruce Boa as Mr Hamilton, Claire Nielson as Mrs Hamilton | FLAY OTTERS | 5 March 1979 |
| Basil is not altogether keen on a rude American guest whose family demands a higher class of service — and food — than Fawlty Towers is accustomed to providing. Basil soon learns that the American guest will not tolerate any shenanigans. | ||||
| 10 | "The Kipper and the Corpse" | Geoffrey Palmer as Dr Price | FATTY OWLS | 12 March 1979 |
| A guest dies of natural causes in bed, another faints at the sight of the body, and Basil frantically tries to hide the out-of-date breakfast kipper (fish) which he is convinced was responsible — besides attempting to move the corpse downstairs unseen. Meanwhile, Dr. Price is kept waiting for his sausages. | ||||
| 11 | "The Anniversary" | Ken Campbell as Roger and Una Stubbs as Alice | FLOWERY TWATS | 26 March 1979 |
| Basil invites some friends for a surprise wedding anniversary party, but Sybil assumes he has forgotten their anniversary and storms off, leaving her husband and Polly, in disguise, desperately telling the others she is 'ill'... | ||||
| 12 | "Basil the Rat" | John Quarmby as the Health Inspector. | FARTY TOWELS | 25 October 1979 |
| The local health inspector issues a long list of hygienic aberrations which the staff immediately sort out. Sadly, they had not reckoned with Manuel's pet — a 'Siberian hamster' — escaping on the same day. Meanwhile, Basil narrowly escapes serving the health inspector poisoned veal. The episode ends when the health inspector discovers Manuel's rodent pet in a box of biscuits. This concluding episode seems to indicate the failure of Fawlty Towers and possibly hints to its closing. | ||||
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