The Builders

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.

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."

After deconstructing the British class system in the opening episode of the show Cleese and Booth now aim their sites towards another taboo of British culture - Irish builders . Of course it's something of a stereotype and there's not much truth in it but no one can ever put their hand on their heart and say they have never heard of someone getting a knock on their door to be met by two chirpy Irishmen saying " Tarmac your drive sir " only to regret it at a later date

This is a slight change of pace from the opening episode where Basil and his wife were centre stage . Here the characters of Polly and Manuel are left to carry much of the episode though it's probably one of the lesser ones . Much of this lies in the premise of having some cheap and dodgy Irish builders building an internal wall with the premise not allowing much of a situation beyond . That said there are some genuinely funny moments involving cruelty to Manuel and FAWLTY TOWERS is so brilliant even a substandard episode is funnier than anything you'll see on television produced today so The Builders isn't a dead loss

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

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.