The Psychiatrist

The Psychiatrist must be one of the best episodes from Fawlty Towers, and in turn one of the funniest comedies ever made. The sheer quality of this episode is phenomenal, the script is sublime, and the physical humour, genuinely off the scale.

The content is so rich, it goes beyond being purely farce, we are treated to mistaken identity, half heard conversations, and misunderstandings, everything going on in that Hotel seems destined to cause mayhem for poor Basil.

Once again there are too many side splitting moments to mention, but for me, the two best scenes feature the Doctors. The initial moment where Basil meets them, Three Doctors, and the second being where poor Basil misunderstands the conversation about holidays.

Why can't comedies be this funny. 10/10

I wouldn't say that The Psychiatrist has got the strongest of plots, but it doesn't matter much because there are so many great jokes and brilliant moments of physical humour that the story-line itself is of little consequence. On gags alone, this is one of the best.

For what it's worth, the episode sees hotel owner Basil in serious fawning mode when a married couple, both doctors, book a room; when he's not being obsequious, he's trying to catch another guest, ladies' man Mr. Richards (Nicky Henson), with a woman in his room after hours. The introduction of another customer, sexy Australian Raylene Miles, only adds to Basil's problems, as he seemingly cannot avoid being caught by Sybil in compromising situations with the Antipodean babe.

Best moments: Basil mistakenly looking in the wrong window while up a ladder, and Basil reaching round a doorway to find a light switch only to grab Miss Miles' breast.

Basil quickly overcomes his disgust with a particular guest, the tacky Mr. Johnson (Nicky Henson, "Syriana"), to be delighted when a married pair of doctors come to stay at the hotel. Then his delight turns to paranoia when he learns that the husband (Basil Henson, "The Final Programme") is a psychiatrist, due to his preconceived notions about psychiatrists. He is further driven to distraction when he becomes convinced that Mr. Johnson has smuggled in a young female.

Watching Mr. Cleese go through one farcical sequence and slapstick situation after another is pure hilarity. To add to his existing woes, he is *also* distracted by a sexy blonde Australian guest (Luan Peters, "The Flesh and Blood Show"). The writing by Mr. Cleese and Ms. Booth perfectly sets up all these instances where Basil is often getting the wrong idea, or being caught whenever he is acting in a particularly silly manner. It's a true tour-de-force comic performance from Mr. Cleese, and the rest of the cast is equally strong.

My favorite moment is when Basil encounters Ms. Miles after coming out of the storeroom, although all of their scenes are comedy gold, really.

10 out of 10.

I like the bit where he said he had sex three or four times a week

"The Psychiatrist" is a brilliant, brilliant farce. Basil Fawlty is probably the world's greatest ass-kisser, and this story features his fawning over the two (or three??) Dr. Abbott's, who are down in Torquay for a holiday out of London. Meanwhile, a hippie man named Johnson is staying at the hotel, and sneaks his girlfriend into his room (sign of the times, eh?), making for a highly entertaining subplot as Basil tries to catch sight of her and throw them both out. But there's yet another subplot - the appearance of a beautiful lady named Raylene Miles from Australia who shows up, and Basil can't help but become infatuated with her (or so Sybil thinks.) Sybil's hair is at its beehive-best in this one, complete with Basil's reference to it: "the dormant organ you keep hidden in that rat's maze of yours!" The two 'hand on boob' scenes and Basil's breaking into guest rooms "just to check the walls"' are side-splittingly funny, as is the entire episode. Definitely one of the best-written ones in the series.