The Germans

This is the episode most people remember. And it is certainly one of the funniest in the series. Sybil is in the hospital for an operation, leaving Basil in charge of the hotel. Disaster strikes, of course, in the form of a moose's head falling on Basil. The next morning, the hotel is to conduct a routine fire drill, when an actual fire breaks out in the kitchen. Refusing to believe there is really a fire, Basil locks Manuel in the burning room. When he won't stop screaming and pounding on the door, Basil finally unlocks it and sees the blaze. After evacuating the guests for a second time, Basil goes for the fire extinguisher, which promptly explodes in his face. That lands him in the hospital with a concussion. Meanwhile, back at the hotel with Polly now at the helm, things are running very smoothly. That is until Basil unexpectedly shows up after bolting from the hospital. When he begins to interact with the German guests who have arrived, things really start to get funny, as he can't stop "mentioning the war." If you're looking for non-stop laughs, this episode certainly delivers!

More and more over the last few years I find myself watching television shows that I either never tried or that it has been decades since I last watched properly. The thing I normally end up noting is that many shows seem to take some time to bed in. Curb Your Enthusiasm is certainly better after the first season, likewise Battlestar Galatica, Always Sunny and many other shows. It is a compliment to the quality then to come back to shows like Yes Minister and Fawlty Towers and find that they pretty much hit the mark from the very first episode of the very first season – indicating that they knew what they were about and were able to find their targets from the start.

With Fawlty Towers the "target" is the creation of Basil himself. Basil is a great comedy character because he is a character we can easily laugh at because he is quite unlikeable but not so unlikeable or victorious that we feel bad that he exists. Basil is irritable, smarmy, intolerant and exaggerated – in short, funny. Season 1 nails this from the very start with the episode that makes the class system the focus. In it of course we see Basil treat people differently based on his perceptions of them only for them to change again as he finds himself to be incorrect. As a device it is simple but it works and is repeated several times in different forms with the episode with the hotel inspectors and the one where everyone appears to be "at it". He is a tragic clown who is arrogant, unable to admit he is ever wrong and also self-destructive to a fault, with his frustrations building up inside him as he goes. In short he is about the last person you would want to have in a role that involves dealing with the public in any capacity, far less being at their beck and call.

Cleese delivers this perfectly from the very start and his exaggerated reactions really draw the laughs. He is well supported by a cast that don't get the credit they deserve for letting him play off them as he does. Booth in particular never gets enough of the credit that her joint writing credit should give her. OK she has much less time to shine but she acts with Cleese very well. Scales has more comedy material and her intolerant and bullying Sybil is a simple but effective character that feeds Basil more. Sachs' "Spanish" is an easy joke but his physical timing is great and again he is best when allowing Cleese to react around him. All of them are very funny in this first season and they are all part of the show not even having a "settling in" period of a minute.

Watching it in full rather than in clips shows (which is how most of us have probably seen it in the last few years) the effect is to be more impressive. It is a very well delivered show that has great physical humour built around a wonderful comedy character in the shape of Fawlty. That he is so well delivered by Cleese while the others help him do it just makes this stronger. I'll give it a minute but I'm looking forward to properly watching the second season for hopefully more of the same.

Cybil is nagging Basil from her hospital bed as he presides over a series of disasters..

This episode is crammed with humour from start to finish. So much so it takes repeat viewings to catch it all. There are no weak moments or let ups as the punchlines fly at you from every angle.

Cybil in hospital with Basil hoping she suffers. The debacle of the moose head. The shambolic fire drill. Basil in hospital with an oversized head bandage. The classic scene with the Germans. It all works fantastically well.

The episode has been accused of racism, but it's not. The Major is being ridiculed as a bigoted old relic of the upper classes and Basil is not far off certifiably mad in his treatment of the Germans.

A brilliant half an hour of BBC comedy and an incredible performance from John Cleese.

I have watched Fawlty Towers numerous times and this is my favorite. It is pure slapstick fun and John Cleese is outstanding in it. Andrew Sachs (Manuel) & "The Major" are comedy gold. I roll with laughter every time I watch it. Is it politically correct? Absolutely not and thank god!

I'm quite partial to reviewing a show after I've watched it, when it comes to Fawlty Towers I feel I know them almost too well, where do I even begin?

The Germans is one of the most iconic pieces of British television, Fawlty Towers is totally iconic, it's ageless. It is utterly hilarious from start to finish, John Cleese puts in one of his best shifts as Basil Fawlty, it is amazingly madcap, it's so politically non correct, it could never be made now.

My German friends that have seen this and contrary to preconceived ideas they all love it as much as I do.

Thirty of the funniest moments of comedy ever made, I think my personal number 1 is The Kipper and The Corpse, but the Germans is still a perfect 10/10

Don't mention the War.