The Wedding Party

The title of this episode is kind of a misnomer, as the wedding element is really tertiary. It's quite funny, though - and sex is indeed the focus. Basil immediately gets his back up when a young couple, The Wilsons, come in and ask for a room. It turns out they are old friends of Polly's, who are in town to attend a wedding. As usual, Basil makes an ass out of himself when the young man comes down to the front desk to ask for "some batteries" (which Basil mistakes for 'sexual stimulants'!) The best moment comes when Basil passes by and hears erotic noises - immediately after which, Polly emerges from their room. Meanwhile, an attractive older French lady, Mrs. Peignoir, is tempting Basil, much to the consternation of Sybil - and Manuel is celebrating his birthday as best he knows how, in typical wild 'Barcelona' style. This episode doesn't doesn't have much of a climax or spectacular finish, but it's got the usual quota of laughs throughout.

Probably not one of the better episodes of Fawlty Towers', but it does contain Basil's description of Sybil laughing "as sounding like someone machine-gunning a seal!".

One of the first to introduce a note of what passes for pathos in the Basilverse since - ghastly as he is - Basil is actually right all along in his assumptions about the dishonourable intentions of the guests whose extramarital tryst he's determined to thwart.

One question, however, remains. What on Earth does Mme Peignoir see in Basil in the first place?

I love The Wedding Party, my favourite of the three opening episodes. It is beautifully written, wonderfully performed, and does a good job at showing Basil's real character, quick to judge, but well meaning, definitely more refined then Cybil. As always it's an exhausting watch, guaranteed to get you worked up.

So many laughs throughout, a drunken Manuel, Sybil's conversation with Audrey, and of course Basil's misunderstood conversation with Alan about batteries. It is however the scene where Basil shows a bemused Rachel Lloyd around another room, Diana King is a joy in this, and the expression on her face throughout her time with Basil is hilarious. Mrs Peignoir is such a funny character.

This first series is golden, they could simply do not wrong. This is a classic. 9/10

Fawlty Towers does bedroom farce, with hotel owner Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) mistakenly believing that his current guests, a young unmarried couple and an older couple, are swingers indulging in morally dubious sexual conduct, even involving pretty maid Polly (Connie Booth).

Desperate to maintain a respectable establishment, Basil goes into manic overdrive, ultimately ordering his guests to leave and sacking Polly. When Sybil eventually explains to Basil that the young woman is actually the older couple's daughter and that Polly is an old school friend, the result is another perfectly executed emotional breakdown from Cleese.

Lots of great situation comedy makes this episode a winner, including Basil being repeatedly caught by his guests in compromising positions with waiter Manuel, and Basil trying to avoid amorous antiques dealer Mrs. Peignoir (Yvonne Gilan). The sight of Polly in a tight T-shirt and stripped to her underwear doesn't hurt either.

I like the bit where he hits manual really hard with a frying pan