‘THE GERMANS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
In the last Series 1 episode of ‘Fawlty Towers’, Sybil is in hospital. She has an ingrown toenail and has to have an operation to get it out. Basil runs the hotel whilst Sybil’s in hospital. He hopes to run the place ‘properly’, but things don’t go really well when a fire drill occurs and some Germans stay over.
I found it funny during the fire drill scenes where Basil tried to explain to the guests that ‘it’s not the fire bell, it’s the burglar alarm’. The guests just don’t get it and Basil is so frustrated that he gives up and says “I don’t know why we bother, we should let you all burn!” It’s a line that really defines Basil.
Andrew Sachs also delivers a brave performance as Manuel in the episode. During the episode, Manuel finds the kitchen on fire and he too gets his clothes on fire. It was funny when Manuel tried to tell Basil that there’s a fire in the kitchen, but Basil doesn’t believe him until he sees it for himself.
Most importantly, this episode features the Germans who stay over at the hotel. The Germans include Lisa Bergmayr, Willy Bowman, Dan Gillan and Nick Kane. The Germans behave reasonably; since after Basil gets knocked and bandaged on the head, he has trouble to not ‘mention the war’. 😀
This episode also features Brenda Cowling as the hospital sister who looks after Sybil, and Louis Mahoney as Dr. Finn. Brenda Cowling has been in a number of BBC sitcoms like ‘Dad’s Army’ and ‘You Rang M’Lord’. Basil is rude to the sister before and after he has his accident during the fire drill.
Louis Mahoney has appeared in the ‘Doctor Who’ stories in ‘Frontier In Space’, ‘Planet of Evil’ and ‘Blink’. Ballard Berkeley is funny as the Major in this ‘Fawlty Towers’ episode. My favourite scenes with him in this episode have to be when the Major thinks that a moose’s head is speaking to him. 😀
In actual fact, it’s Manuel behind the reception desk. It’s funny when the Major said at the end, “You naughty moose!” This episode has sparked some controversy over the years, especially concerning the racial slurs said by the Major as well as Basil. That didn’t bother me very much as I watched this.
‘The Germans’ is a great episode to finish off Series 1 of ‘Fawlty Towers’. There’s a lot happening in the episode that makes it pacier and funny at the same time. The moose’s head and the fire drill scenes are my favourite from the episode and it’s so easy to recall Basil’s “Don’t Mention The War!”
On Disc 1 of the ‘Fawlty Towers – The Complete Collection Remastered’ DVD, there are two audio commentaries on ‘The Germans’. There’s an audio commentary with producer/director John Howard Davies and there’s an audio commentary with John Cleese.
‘The Germans’ rating – 9/10
| Go back to | Go next to |
| Return to Fawlty Towers | |
| Return to Comedy |
Bradley's Basement 