Fawlty Towers: Top 10 funniest moments 

Virgin Radio

9 Feb 2023, 14:52

When you think of classic British sitcoms, Fawlty Towers is surely one that comes to mind. 

It served us some of the most memorable moments in British TV history and left us in stitches of laughter every episode and it looks like we’ll be reliving it all again after John Cleese confirmed he will be rebooting the show this year. 

So, in celebration of its return here are some of the funniest moments from Fawlty Towers

Don’t mention the war

During this episode, hotelier Basil sustains a head injury and starts to act even more strange than normal. This iconic scene comes when German guests arrive and (in a rather un-pc gag) he can’t seem to stop mentioning World War Two. 

Waldorf Salad

When a pair of wealthy Americans come to stay, they fancy a late-night dinner on arrival. Without the chef at hand, Basil has to make the meal himself but things go awry when the guests begin to order stuff not on the menu…including a Walford salad. 

Basil and the rat

In one of the final episodes, Basil finds himself in a pickle when a health inspector arrives and finds a long list of things wrong with the hotel. The last thing they need is for Manuel’s “Siberian hamster” to be let loose and turn up inside of a biscuit tin offered to the inspector. 

Where’s the sea?

It’s natural that you’re going to get the odd picky guest when working at a hotel and when this happens to Basil it obviously delivers comedy gold. The guest in question has issues with nearly everything in the room, including the bath which isn’t “big enough to drown a mouse” and prompts Basil to deliver one of his funniest lines.

Basil beats his car

After some mishaps at the hotel, Basil finds himself in trouble after a group of guests sit down for a high-end dinner and he can only offer them duck. He decides to head out and look for something else to cook but his car stalls and he gives it a “damn good thrashing”

The corpse

In this episode, Basil is faced with a corpse in his hotel (just your average day at Fawlty Towers). He decides to do what any right-minded person would and hide the body, but not before accidentally serving him breakfast and then trying to dispose of the corpse in a rather unusual way. 

The case

A special guest, Lord Melbury, arrives at the hotel one day and trusts Basil with a briefcase of “valuables”. However, detective inspector Danny Brown appears shortly after and it transpires Melbury is not who he seems. When Sybil suggests they open the case, Basil goes on a rampage and let’s just say, the ‘valuables’ are pretty underwhelming. 

Major and the moose

One of the most memorable characters in Fawlty Towers is Major Gowen, a war veteran who is a permanent resident at the hotel and has somewhat lost his marbles. When Basil hangs a moose’s head in the lobby it leaves him a bit confused, especially when he thinks it’s talking to him. 

Basil 'forgets' his anniversary

Forgetting an anniversary is never ideal and in the penultimate episode, Basil attempts to throw surprise 15th wedding bash for Sybil. He pretends he forgets the day in an effort to steer her off the scent but she ends up going off in hump instead. Not wanting to admit to partygoers what has happened, Basil pretends Sybil is ill and gets chambermaid Polly to pretend to be her sick in bed. All goes well until Sybil returns to get her golf clubs.

The wrong signs

It’s a running joke in the Fawlty Towers opening sequence when a shot of the hotel’s sign appears with letters missing or formed into anagrams. From Water Fowls, Farty Towels and Flay Otters- it’s hard not to chuckle at what Cleese and Connie Booth came up with.