Synopsis
Programme
Impressions/Performances
Set in a Torquay Hotel during the 1970's and first going to air in 1975, Fawlty Towers set a new benchmark for situation comedy and has since become one of the most iconic and enduring TV series in British Television History. Written by John Cleese and his wife, Connie Booth (who played Basil and Polly respectively in the resultant series), it was famously inspired by the antics of a real hotelier encountered by the writers whilst filming with the Monty Python team in the early 1970's. It tells the story of rude and frenziedly erratic hotel owner Basil Fawlty, his long-suffering wife, Sybil, eager but hapless Spanish waiter Manuel, doddering permanent resident The Major, and waitress/maid Polly - the one island of sanity in a sea of madness. Only twelve episodes were ever made, in two series (the second aired in 1979), but these relatively few instalments have been perennial favourites with the British viewing public ever since - that alone guaranteeing a good turnout for this amateur production - and indeed have been aired all around the world.
The first episode in this collection, "A Touch of Class," was not one of the funniest but earned it's place here presumably because it was the first - the pilot episode of the whole series. Here Basil tries to raise the level of the clientele of Fawlty Towers by placing an expensive advertisement in an upper-crust magazine. When Lord Melbury responds to the ad, Basil fawns over him and gives him the best attention over all the other guests. But all is not as it seems, and when Melbury turns out to be not what he appears Basil reacts in typically manic fashion. One of the funniest moments is when Manuel is serving breakfast guests and Basil tries to communicate to him that there is "too much butter on those trays," to which a non-comprehending Manuel replies "No, no, Mr. Fawlty, uno dos tres".
The second episode, "Communication Problems" (the series two opener on TV), sees Basil battling with an irascible, elderly battleaxe, Mrs. Richards. From the moment she arrives Mrs. Richards, who is hard of hearing and turns off her hearing aid to save the batteries, is constantly complaining and demanding attention. In a sub-plot, Basil has had a tip for the gee-gees come up trumps but must hide his winnings from Sybil who does not approve of his betting. Needless, to say chaos ensues and it all goes horribly wrong for our comic hero. This episode of course is best remembered for one of the most famous quotes from the entire series - when Mrs. Richards complains about the view from her bedroom window and Basil sarcastically retorts "What did you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the Serengeti?"
The third episode, "The Germans" (the closer to series one on TV), is perhaps the most famous of all - containing the sublime elements of Basil locking Manuel in a burning kitchen, the major thinking he is conversing with a talking moose head (which is sitting on the reception desk whilst Manuel is tidying up behind and practising his English), and a concussed Basil (after an accident with the aforementioned moose head) trying to serve a party of German guests whilst not mentioning the war - and which leads to the classic exchange:
Basil: "Is there something wrong?" (female german guest is crying)
German Guest: "Will you stop talking about the war."
Basil: "Me? You started it!"
German Guest: "We did not start it!"
Basil: "Yes you did, you invaded Poland!!!"
The latter being surely one of the funniest sit-com punchlines ever written.
This production by the Cosmopolitan players managed to remain remarkably faithful to the original TV series, even down to a beautifully constructed set that, apart from the location of the dining room (which would otherwise have been off-stage), was faithfully accurate to the original TV set. The cast are likewise well chosen and do a great job in capturing the essence of their characters. Ed Corbett, like the original Basil, John Cleese is tall and match-stalk thin and gives a more than passable representation of the manically hyper-active hotelier myopically unaware of his own pathetically obvious ineptitude. He perhaps didn't fully capture the hysterical anger of the original, but he certainly looked the part and his finger under nose, high stepping Hitler impersonation in "The Germans" was hilariously funny. Carolyn Craven was equally at home as Basil's shrewish wife, Sybil - although there was a strange absence of the high-pitched "Baaa-zill!" I seem to remember from the TV series - perhaps it just didn't occur in these particular episodes. Matthew Driver's terminally befuddled Manuel was uproariously funny throughout and Bernard Wilson's Major so close to the original as to be virtually indistinguishable. Completing the main characters was Emily Lindley's excellent Polly whilst also worthy of special mention was Shirley Hoyland for an tremendously funny representation of the battleaxe, Mrs Richards, in the second episode.
Verdict
Fast paced and hilariously funny, capturing and reproducing some of the best loved moments from the original TV series. A real success for the Cosmopolitan players.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net