The Wedding Party
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| “The Wedding Party” | |||||||
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| Fawlty Towers episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
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| Written by | John Cleese & Connie Booth | ||||||
| Directed by | John Howard Davies | ||||||
| Original airdate | 3 October 1975 | ||||||
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| List of Fawlty Towers episodes | |||||||
"The Wedding Party" is the third episode of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.
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[edit] Synopsis
Basil is disgusted when two young lovers, Alan and Jean, begin 'hanky-pankying' under his very nose while checking in. He becomes convinced that they and two other guests are engaged in sexual misbehaviour, along with Polly. Meanwhile circumstances conspire to put him in apparently compromising situations whenever they are around.
[edit] Cast
Episode Credited cast:
- John Cleese as Basil Fawlty
- Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty
- Andrew Sachs as Manuel
- Connie Booth as Polly Sherman
- Ballard Berkeley as Major Gowen
- Gilly Flower as Miss Abitha Tibbs
- Renee Roberts as Miss Ursula Gatsby
With:
- Trevor Adams as Alan
- Yvonne Gilan as Mrs. Peignoir
- Diana King as Mrs. (Rachel) Lloyd
- Jay Neill as Bar Guest (or Customer)
- Conrad Phillips as Mr. (Philip) Lloyd
- April Walker as Jean Wilson (Mr. Lloyd's step-daughter)
[edit] Plot
A heatwave has hit Torquay, bringing Basil's incompetence to an all time high. When he realises that two young lovers who are checking in, Alan and Jean, aren't married he tries to force them into single rooms on separate floors. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peignoir, a French antique dealer, seems to have taken a shine to Basil.
Alan returns to the lobby and asks Basil if he knows whether any chemists are still open. Basil initially assumes he wants to buy condoms, then when Alan says he wants batteries Basil - still assuming it must be sex-related - tells him that is "dis-gusting". When Alan explains that he wanted batteries for his electric razor, Basil tries to save the situation. Later that evening, Mrs. Peignoir arrives home and drunkenly trips over Basil as he crouches on the floor picking up her purse that she has dropped, ending up sitting on him. At that moment Alan and Jean also arrive, witnessing what appears to them to be a very intimate situation.
Later that same night Manuel, who had been out celebrating his birthday, returns home drunk with his umbrella (a birthday gift from the Fawltys) outside Basil and Sybil's door and accidentally hits Basil over the head with the umbrella. As Basil crumples to the floor in pain, Manuel sits on him in concern, saying "Mr Fawlty, I love you, I love you ...." and once more Alan walks in on the situation.
Jean's mother and stepfather Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd arrive next morning. Basil accidentally walks in on Jean hugging Mr. Lloyd, and not realising that they are family he tries to keep Mrs. Lloyd from the room where he saw them embracing. He shows her the kitchen, where a comatose Manuel is sleeping in the linen basket. Finally he lets her up to the room, only to discover Polly (a family friend of the Lloyds) is hugging Mr. Lloyd. He again distracts the now very edgy Mrs. Lloyd by showing her another room, apologising that the Lloyds' room is not as nice.
Later that day, another situation occurs where Basil sees Polly hurriedly running out of Alan and Jean's room, dressing herself (she has been trying on a dress Jean made for her). Thinking the worst, Basil prepares to sack Polly and tells the Lloyds to leave. Sybil explains that they are one family and that Polly went to school with Jean, and has known them for years. He argues with Sybil about apologising to them, saying sarcastically "No, no, I suppose it's all my fault, isn't it?" But Sybil says "Oh yes, you will." and to "Tell them you made a mistake." So he says (to Sybil, to Polly, to himself and to empty space) "I'm so sorry, I made a mistake."
Sybil's good friend Audrey has split up from her husband, much to Basil's irritation as she's constantly on the phone and repeating the phrase 'Ooh, I know'. She goes to visit Audrey the following day, and as Major Gowen puts it, "listen to all that rubbish" while consoling her friend.
A flirtatious Mrs. Peignoir tries to charm Basil that night while Sybil is away, and he is very jumpy in the evening. As he tries to sleep someone keeps knocking at his door, and he believes it to be Mrs. Peignoir trying to seduce him again. However when he realises it is actually Sybil returned early, he opens the door and unconvincingly says "Oh, what a terrible dream," trying to explain his previous whispers to Mrs. Peignoir (as he thought) to go away.
Sybil doesn't notice his odd behaviour, as she tells Basil that she has heard a burglar downstairs. Both are unaware that it is actually Manuel, who has stirred from the linen basket, still hung over. Basil quietly creeps downstairs in his underwear and hits 'the burglar' over the head with a frying pan. Manuel is revealed unconscious, and Basil crouches over him in the foyer. Alan, Jean and the Lloyds walk into the hotel, where they are confronted by the sight of Basil apparently lying on top of Manuel while partially dressed. They creep past, bemused by his behaviour, and Mr Lloyd, slightly drunk, says to Basil "We've been to a wedding". In frustration Basil draws back the frying pan for a revengeful clout ...
[edit] Trivia
- A small "plot hole" in this episode is that the doorbell goes at night and Basil complains that someone has forgotten their pass key. When he goes downstairs to open the door, he slides back two bolts before opening the door. Anyone who had a pass key wouldn't have been able to get in either. However, it could be explained by the fact that some hotels provide pass keys to a side door rather than the main entrance, but are unlikely to have a doorbell on this side door. So if a guest forgets their pass key, they would have to go round to the main entrance and ring the bell there to be let in.
- Andrew Sachs suffered serious concussion after being hit over the head by a real frying pan in the episode's climax. He was paid £700 via insurance from the BBC. It was not the last time he was destined to be hurt on the show, as he suffered a serious allergic burn from corrosive chemicals in The Germans.
- This is only one of four episodes where one of the characters (Alan) looks directly into the camera and hence connects with the viewing audience. This occurs about 16 minutes into the episode when Basil is lying on the floor, having been knocked over by Manuel. The second instance occurs during episode one of the first series, A Touch of Class, when Basil looks into the camera and says "what else," when Lord Mulberry orders a dry sherry. The third instance occurs during episode two of the first series, The Builders, when early in the episode Polly looks into the camera when she is on the phone saying "No, it's sixteen Elwood Avenue .... sixteen, that's it. Thank you.". The fourth instance occurs when Terry the chef looks directly at the camera during the final episode, Basil the Rat.
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