Today, 19 September, marks the 50th anniversary of the first airing of Fawlty Towers.
From 1975 to 1979, it followed snobby Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) as he dealt with the difficulties of hotel ownership. With a grand total of just 12 episodes it can’t be accused of overstaying its welcome – unlike some of its nightmare guests.
Topical references, fashion, and social attitudes date it slightly, but the show remains a British institution and it has been a huge inspiration for comedy that followed. There is a bit of Basil in everyone, from One Foot in the Grave’s Victor Meldrew to Green Wing’s Dr Alan Statham.
I’m about two decades too young to have watched it the first time around, but having loved the show since childhood, I’ve ranked every episode by rewatching them at least twice – considering quotability, laughs and acting performances.
12) The Wedding Party
S1 – Ep 3 ‘The Wedding’ aka ‘The Wedding Party’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
There’s no bad Fawlty Towers episode – no Blackadder-style lesser first series or diminishing returns. Even this one is very funny, showing a hungover Manuel, nervously laughing Basil, and a glimpse into Polly’s social life. But it scores lower because it doesn’t build up to a massive comic crescendo in the same way as the best episodes – it’s a lot of funny moments, but while fantastic for a “worst episode”, it’s not Fawlty Towers at its most memorable.
11) The Psychiatrist
S2 – Ep 2 ‘The Psychiatrist’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
This is the show at its most cringe-inducing, as Basil spies on an unmarried couple and accidentally disturbs a younger female guest in the process. You almost feel sorry for him – for all his flaws, he’s not the creep he comes across as here. The biggest laughs include Basil’s misunderstanding of “How often do you and your wife manage it?” and the suggestion of the world’s shortest book, “The Wit of Margaret Thatcher”.
10) The Anniversary
S2 – Ep 5 ‘The Anniversary’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
Sybil storms off, thinking Basil has forgotten their anniversary, but he’s actually arranged a surprise party with her friends. As they arrive to celebrate, Basil tries to cover up why she isn’t there. One friend’s terrible jokes (“Syb ill!”) shows Fawlty Towers is so good at writing gags, it can even master bad ones when it tries.
9) The Kipper And The Corpse
S2 – Ep 4 ‘The Kipper And The Corpse’ (Image: BBC Picture Archives)
It’s the biggest crisis that the hotel faces, as a guest actually dies in his room. Basil’s attempt to cover up the body is typically chaotic – “If the guest isn’t singing ‘Oh, what a beautiful morning’ I don’t immediately think, ‘Oh, there’s another one snuffed it in the night!’” A classic case of Basil helping create an even bigger problem than the one in front of him.
8) Basil The Rat
S2 – Ep 6 ‘Basil the Rat’ (Image: UKTV/BBC Studios 1979)
In the final episode of Fawlty Towers, there’s no heart-warming nor tragic send-off, just the show as it’s always been. Manuel’s pet rat Basil runs loose in the hotel as a health inspector visits. You’d struggle to find a more perfectly delivered line than Basil’s, “Would you care for a rat, or…?”
7) Gourmet Night
S1 – Ep 5 ‘Gourmet Night’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
Another uncomfortable but enjoyable episode, as the hotel puts on a gourmet night but is faced with a drunk waiter and a broken-down car (the basis of the classic tree branch moment). Lots of things make Fawlty Towers classic comedy, but the awkward small talk in this episode helps make it classic British comedy.
6) The Builders
S1 – Ep 2 ‘The Builders’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
Going with a cheap builder isn’t always a good idea, but it’s the basis for a brilliant episode. It shows the actual structure of the hotel at risk, as Basil balances cheap building work with not suffering fools. (Mr O’Reilly: “If the good lord…” Basil: “…is mentioned once more, I shall move you closer to him!”)
5) Waldorf Salad
S2 – Ep 3 ‘Waldorf Salad’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
American guests the Hamiltons pay serious “Mickey Mouse money” to keep the kitchen open, with trouble arising when Basil pretends to be the chef. It’s at its funniest when Mr Hamilton walks in on a “conversation” between Basil and the absent chef, and towards the end, it shows Basil at his angriest (which is also his best).
4) The Hotel Inspectors
S1 – Ep 4 ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ (Image: BBC Picture Archives)
Hotel inspectors are in the area – not the best time to treat guests the way they do Mr Hutchinson here. Basil complaining that most guests “don’t know a Bordeaux from a claret” shows that for all his condescension, he isn’t quite the connoisseur he pretends to be.
3) Communication Problems
S2 – Ep 1 ‘Communication Problems’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
Sometimes Basil is rude to undeserving guests, but he certainly meets his match with Mrs Richards, an older woman who complains, interrupts and refuses to wear her hearing aid because it wears the batteries down. Throw in Basil trying to keep his gambling a secret from Sybil and this episode has classic written all over it.
2) The Germans
S1 E6: ‘The Germans’ (Image: BBC)
This was always going to be towards the top, as Basil tries and fails to “not mention the war” in front of some German guests. There are classic set-ups throughout – Major Gowen believes a moose head statue is talking to him and the hotel actually has a fire during an alarm test. The Germans scene remains the highlight though, especially near-the-knuckle given how recent World War II was – having ended just 30 years before the episode aired.
1) A Touch Of Class
S1 – Ep 1 ‘A Touch of Class’ (Image: UKTV/BBC)
Basil tries to attract a “better class” of guest, and he is so charmed by Lord Melbury, he fails to notice he’s a confidence trickster. It’s the first episode, but there’s no time spent introducing each character in detail, as Basil’s reaction to “a peer of the realm” staying shows the nature of the man at his absolute funniest. There’s a moral to this episode about not judging people from their background, but it’s not one you suspect Basil has learned by the end.