Hot off the runaway success of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese embarked on his now-legendary sitcom, Fawlty Towers, creating one of the most memorable and best loved characters in all of British comedy, Basil Fawlty. Basil is a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors, and riff-raff. Of course his biggest headache is his “little nest of vipers,” his nagging wife Sibyl. Together they run their hotel, Fawlty Towers, with a little help from the unflappable Polly and the trainee waiter from Barcelona with marginally more intelligence than a monkey, Manuel.

CRITIQUE

British television has given the world many fantastic TV series over the past several decades, especially comedies and dramas, and some are more well-known than others. Discovering a classic show like this is the kind of thing that makes my day; I laughed a lot watching this series for the first time ever.

Fawlty Towers is a legendary comedy series written by John Cleese, member of the hilarious Monty Python troupe, in which he also plays the lead role of Basil Fawlty, a hotel manager whose talent it is to make every imaginable bad situation infinitely worse as the day goes on. Cleese plays the character with a neurotic wit that’s priceless. The supporting cast is also quite brilliant and very funny.

These episodes present a boat load of hilarious gags, misunderstandings and overall funny situations, the joy coming from watching Basil trying to keep things normal, and spewing a lot of outrageous and funny dialogue. The only downside is that there are only two seasons of the show and each lasts for only six episodes, yet this also guarantees quality writing material as there isn’t a bad egg episode to be found!

Season 1 – Disc 1

101 – A Touch of Class

102 – The Builders

103 – The Wedding Party

104 – The Hotel Inspectors

105 – Gourmet Night

106 – The Germans

Season 2 – Disc 2

201 – Communication Problems

202 – The Psychiatrist

203 – Waldorf Salad

204 – The Kipper and the Corpse

205 – The Anniversary

206 – Basil the Rat

THE VIDEO

Fawlty Towers is now available in a “remastered” 4:3 full screen video that visibly stands out from any previous home video incarnations. The image is clear and colors look much better than before. Things like film grain and bits of background noise remains, but these do not distract in any way; the rest of the picture quality is well done.

THE AUDIO

Fawlty Towers is presented here in an English Mono track that is obviously, exclusively all front-center. Still, the dialogue sounds good for what the show is; a comedy.

THE EXTRAS

Here are the meat and potatoes of what fans should look forward to in this Remastered edition, with the all-new interviews and such located on the third disc.

Audio Commentary with John Cleese on all 12 Episodes: Worth listening to especially for fans who want to know some inside information about the show and hear Cleese’s thoughts on what’s happening on screen.

Audio Commentary with Producer John Howard Davies on all 6 First-Season Episodes: Reflections from the set and other stories from the director and producer of the first season.

Audio Commentary with Director Bob Spiers on all 6 Second-Season Episodes: Spiers discusses the second season and the series as a whole, and also offers scene-specific commentary.

2009 Extended Interviews features 38 minutes of newly-recorded interviews with the following participants remembering the series: John Cleese, Andrew Sachs, Prunella Scales, Connie Booth, John Howard Davies, Bernard Cribbins, Geoffrey Palmer, Sabrina Franklyn, Nicky Henson and David Kelly.

Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales & Andrew Sachs from many years past is made available here and they run for a combined total of one hour and 25 minutes!

Artist Profiles of the main actors (“Helpful Staff”) and guest stars (“Guest Registry”) are narrated bios and filmographies but the most recent information about them is missing.

Torquay Tourist Office is a 12-minute documentary film about the hotel that served as the inspiration of the show.

Cheap Tatty Review is a 57-second bit featuring John Cleese talking on the phone.

Outtakes is a 93-second gag reel with several clips of mishaps from the show.

FINAL THOUGHT

If you’re a fan of the series, upgrading to this new edition is worth it. If you’ve never seen the show, and are a fan of the U.K.’s The Office for example, I highly recommend you check this out.