"Fawlty Towers"
The Germans (1975)

Director:

John Howard Davies

Writers:

John Cleese (written by) and
Connie Booth (written by)

TV Series:

"Fawlty Towers" (1975)

Original Air Date:

24 October 1975 (Season 1, Episode 6)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Basil is left to run the hotel on his own while Sybil has an ingrown toenail removed. He quickly makes a mess of things...

Plot Keywords:

German | Moose Head | English | Waiter | Hotel

Cast

John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
Connie Booth	...	Polly Shearman
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Claire Davenport	...	Mrs. Wilson
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby
Brenda Cowling	...	Sister
Louis Mahoney	...	Doctor
John Lawrence	...	Mr. Sharp
Iris Fry	...	Mrs. Sharp
Willy Bowman	...	German Guest
Nick Kane	...	German Guest
Lisa Bergmayr	...	German Guest
Dan Gillian	...	German Guest (as Dan Gillan)

Directed by
John Howard Davies

Writing credits
John Cleese		(written by) and
Connie Booth		(written by)

Produced by
John Howard Davies	....	producer

Original Music by
Dennis Wilson

Film Editing by
Bob Rymer

Production Design by
Peter Kindred

Costume Design by
Mary Woods

Makeup Department
Jean Speak	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
John Howell	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Ken Bomphray	....	visual effects
Peter Pegrum	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ron Koplick	....	lighting technician
Stanley Speel	....	camera operator

Other crew
Tony Guyan	....	production assistant

Makeup Department
Anne Rayment	....	makeup designer (uncredited)

Certification:

Australia:PG

Trivia:

In the German dubbed version of the episode "The Germans", the dialog spoken by the German tourists was spoken in English.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The hotel is supposedly located in Torquay, yet at the start of "The Germans" the hospital where Sybil is staying is Northwick Park Hospital according to the sign outside. Northwick Park Hospital is in Middlesex in North West London, miles away from Devon.

Quotes:

[Basil has suffered a blow to the head and is in the hospital]
Basil Fawlty: [to nurse] My God, you're ugly, aren't you?
Sister: I'll... I'll get the doctor.
Basil Fawlty: It's a plastic surgeon you need, not a doctor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998) (V)

Very funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the only episode where the starting credits do not start outside the hotel and so there's no funny rearrangement of the Fawlty Towers sign, but don't worry, the rest of the show more than makes up for it.

It's really all go here, with Sybil in hospital and Basil trying to do everything on his own. He has to organise the fire drill and find time to put a moose's head up on the wall, sounds straight forward? This is Basil Fawlty we're talking about, nothing is straight forward.

To top it all, they have German guests staying and Basil is just not himself, causing a lot of upset.

Quite a quality episode and no mistake.

This was the only episode from the first series which was not sold to Germany. Thinking about it, it would not have made sense in German because it would not have made sense after being dubbed. Subtitling it may have helped but it would have still looked a little strange.