The Builders

I like the bit where the builders did a really bad job

Basil hires some cheap builders who do a botch job.

What impresses me the most about this episode is that 99% of it takes place in the hotel reception area and it still manages to keep me 100% entertained for the duration.

It depicts Basil's relationship with Cybil brilliantly. He gives the usual witty one-liners at her expense but then reveals how utterly terrified he is of incurring her wrath at the same time. Prunella Scales is on top form in the scenes where Cybil has to take a firm hand with Basil and the builders.

Andrew Sachs carries the show for quite a bit of time whilst Basil is out of the hotel and Manuel takes charge of a number of situations that end in disaster. Sachs shows how funny he can be without sharing the stage with John Cleese.

There is some racial stereotyping here that would not see the light of day in modern comedy writing, but allowing for the time period it was written and how the biggest buffoon depicted as always is Basil, I think it is relatively harmless.

Hire the cheapest contractor, and (usually) get even less than what you hoped for. Basil and Sybil decide to block off a couple doors and put in a couple new doors instead - the notoriously bad construction company in town, run by airhead Mr. O'Reilly, is hired by Basil because they work for cheap. All hell breaks loose when the Fawltys go away for the weekend, during which time O'Reilly's men do great damage to the hotel lobby. The incomparable (and always underweight!) David Kelly does splendidly as unscrupulous O'Reilly, who has about as much knowledge of construction as a garden gnome. This episode shows Sybil at her most caustic, "nest of vipers" self - Basil and O'Reilly don't stand a chance against her when she catches a glimpse of the remodel. John Cleese has stated that this episode is probably the weakest of the series - but there really is no weakness. The situation itself was perhaps not one that would evoke much comedy, but it has its great moments, such as the bit where Manuel gets attacked by Basil when he can't figure out how to get into the dining room because the door is missing...then, as usual, the Major comes in and puts the icing on the situation, wondering what's going on. BASIL: "Well, I was silly enough to leave the hotel for a few minutes."

I always thought this was a great episode for fans of Manuel, Sachs is super funny, thrown to the wolves by Basil as he battles with O'Reilly's hapless team of builders.

David Kelly is terrific as the useless O'Reilly, but it's the annoyance and frustration that Sybil feels towards her husband for trying to get the job done on the cheap. I love how utterly zany Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibbs were. Best scene must be Sybil battering Basil and O'Reilly with her umbrella.

It's not my favourite, but along with the first episode, it helps to cement Fawlty Towers place as the ultimate comedy.

Basil & Sybil will be away for the weekend, deciding to leave the normally reliable Polly in charge. But SHE decides to take a nap, and a typically fumbling, English language-challenged Manuel has to try to step up. All of this while a team of builders - whom Basil likes to use for no other reason than that they come cheap - manages to screw up a job involving putting in / removing doors.

'The Builders' is downright hilarious at times, with Manuel rating as my absolute favorite character; Andrew Sachs just nails the role. Overall, this farce and slapstick-heavy episode does a memorable job of skewering the whole construction business. Guest star David Kelly ("Waking Ned") is a treat to watch as the boss of the cut-rate O'Reilly company; naturally, Stubbs (James Appleby, a veteran of British television), the man whom Sybil would prefer to utilize, has to point out some truly shoddy workmanship.

Some of the most riotous moments involve Basil just completely blowing his top and venting at his employees. "Don't panic!" "What else is there to do?????" And Basil, of course, ends up making a fool of himself trying to pull the wool over his wifes' eyes.

Great fun; a solid follow-up to the pilot episode.

Eight out of 10.