"Fawlty Towers"
Basil the Rat (1979)

Director:

Bob Spiers

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Fawlty Towers" (1975)

Original Air Date:

25 October 1979 (Season 2, Episode 6)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Basil and the rest of the staff are in deep trouble when the health inspector turns up and delivers an enormous list of problems with the hotel. Things become even worse when Manuel's rat gets loose and runs riot around the hotel. |

Plot Keywords:

Health Inspector | Rat | English | Waiter | Hotel

Cast

John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Connie Booth	...	Polly Shearman
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
John Quarmby	...	Mr. Carnegie
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Brian Hall	...	Terry
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby
David Neville	...	Ronald
Sabina Franklyn	...	Quentina
James Taylor	...	Mr. Taylor
Melody Lang	...	Mrs. Taylor
Stuart Sherwin	...	Guest

Certification:

Australia:PG

Goofs:

Continuity: In several episodes, for example "Basil the Rat" and "The Anniversary", we see a sign saying "Wooburn Grange Country Club" above the front driveway to Fawlty Towers. Wooburn Grange Country Club was the building filmed for the exterior of Fawlty Towers, it would seem the director forgot to remove this giant sign before filming.

Quotes:

Basil Fawlty: This is *not* a hamster! Hamsters are cute and cuddly! Cuddle this, you'd never play the guitar again!

Movie Connections:

References "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1950)

Would You...Care for a Rat?

Fawlty Towers faces a shut-down when the public health department pays them a visit, finding such things as storage of cooked and raw meats being stored in the same tray, and dead pigeons in the water tanks! During the cleanup process, Basil finds a 'filigree' Siberian hamster in Manuel's room - which has been his pet for awhile. Worried that this will only contribute to the hotel's list of infractions, Polly finds a new home for him...much to Manuel's dissatisfaction (as he wears a black mourning arm band!) The "new home" is the shed out back, but the rodent loves the hotel so much that he finds his way back in!

This episode is one of the funniest - and is filled with the usual comedic failed attempts to discreetly rectify the problems. We all knew it was coming - the day Fawlty Towers gets threatened with shut-down. John Quarmby is superb as the anal Mr. Carnegie, the public health inspector. The look on his face when Basil opens up the tin of biscuits at the very end is absolutely priceless. A nod of approval should go to Brian Hall, who plays Terry the chef - he does quite well in the part.

The bit where Basil tries to capture the hamster by rummaging through the lady's purse - and gets clawed badly before it jumps out and scurries across the floor, is classic. The scene in the bar where the Major spots the hamster on a table in the bar is also a hoot (quick cut to Polly running in with a moth net!) Supposedly the cast got extra rehearsal time for this particular episode, and it definitely paid off. "Basil the Rat" is a beaut, and it ends the series pretty much as it began, as a fainted Basil gets dragged off by Manuel. Sybil, unfazed by this, gets the last words: "Oh, I'm afraid it's started to rain again...."