The Wedding Party

Basil is convinced several guests are engaging in inappropriate behaviour inside the hotel.

This episode is one of the best sexually themed comedies I have ever seen. Most of the jokes revolve around characters hilariously misinterpreting situations where sex is not actually happening.

As you can imagine Basil has a puritanical view on the subject that is driven by the frustration of his own marriage. This leads him to all manner of outrageous behaviour including spying on his guests, jumping to conclusions and ironically being in a number of seemingly compromising positions.

There are a number of classic moments, probably the standout part for me is when Basil believes an amorous French lady to be outside his bedroom door when it is in fact Cybil. The way he gets himself out of trouble here is brilliant.

John Cleese gives another incredible performance and is supported well by the regular cast, particularly Andrew Sachs as a drunk Manuel celebrating his birthday.

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 saw this episode when I was a child and because there was so much sexual innuendo the episode went right over my head . Sure I knew it was funny but didn't realise the reasons why it was funny . It's difficult to believe that a large audience would be watching this episode for the very first time but if they did they too may be puzzled by it and not for entirely different reasons

The reason is the world has moved on from the mid 1970s and rightly or wrongly we live in more liberal times . A young unmarried couple booking a room for the primary reason of sex wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eyelid . Not so in the mid 1970s when puritan hotel owners who drool over the editorial of the Daily Mail and feeling unclean walking past The News Of The World stand on a Sunday morning would expel any unmarried amorous couple and then close the hotel for a few hours while they fumigate the rooms

Bare this in mind and you'll have a lot of fun watching this episode which revolves around a comedy of errors and innuendo , in other words classic British comedy . The episode relies upon a bit too much coincidence of someone being in the right place and doing something to push the plot along but it's FAWLTY TOWERS so any small contrivance is forgivable . It also contains one of Basil's classic lines as he thinks up a quick witted excuse - " Oh what a terrible nightmare "

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

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.