"Fawlty Towers"
The Kipper and the Corpse (1979)

Director:

Bob Spiers

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Fawlty Towers" (1975)

Original Air Date:

12 March 1979 (Season 2, Episode 4)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A guest unexpectedly dies during the night. While Sybil, Polly and Manuel try to handle the situation professionally...

Plot Keywords:

Corpse | English | Waiter | Hotel | Torquay

Cast

John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
Connie Booth	...	Polly Shearman
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Dr. Price
Mavis Pugh	...	Mrs. Chase
Richard Davies	...	Mr. White
Elizabeth Benson	...	Mrs. White
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby
Brian Hall	...	Terry
Derek Royle	...	Mr. Leeman
Robert McBain	...	Mr. Xerxes
Pamela Buchner	...	Miss Young

Trivia:

In a 1999 interview, John Cleese said that he had asked the manager of The Savoy what the worst problem was for a hotelier. The manager said it was dealing with guests that died. This gave rise to the episode "The Kipper and The Corpse". Cleese named the corpse "Mr. Leeman" in honor of the Savoy manager.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the episode where the man dies, when he is being carried he is supposed dead, however he can be seen breathing at one point.

Quotes:

Mrs. Chase: [Manuel is checking the window for a draft that is disturbing Mrs. Chase's dog] We have to be careful, Mr Fawlty, he's not very strong.
Basil Fawlty: Indeed, yes. A rapid movement of air could damage him irreparably!

Movie Connections:

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

All About Sausages

Fawlty Towers was notorious for rotten customer service, and this episode is a dissertation on it. It complements "Waldorf Salad" and "Basil the Rat" (the final episode) quite well - this time, dead bodies with a subplot involving ill-prepared kippers (and sausages) are brought into the mix. A group of executives drop off Mr. Leeman at the hotel - he dies during the night, but the hotel staff think it's a result of food poisoning of that morning's breakfast. Painstaking efforts are made by Basil, Manuel, and Polly to hide the body - carting the corpse up and down stairs, eventually depositing it first in one of the closets in a guest room and then in the kitchen. As Andrew Sachs has mentioned, they cast the Leeman character with a small man (Derek Royle) so as to make all the hauling a bit easier. The supporting cast in this one are especially good (Geoffrey Palmer as the snobby sausage-loving Dr. Price, and Mavis Pugh as Mrs. Chase, owner of the sausage-loving shi-tzu dog). Gilly Flower, who plays Ms. Tibbs, got a fairly big part in this episode after many episodes with one and two-liners, and she did it very well.

This is the episode with the well-known 'Basil pokes Manuel in the eye' scene and a bit where Basil walks in on a guest preparing to have his way with an inflatable sex doll. By episode's end, it seems like just about everyone has 'had it' with the lousy hotel - even Manuel belts out a firm, "Meeester Fawlty, I no wan' to work here anymore! I on strike!" But in the end, Basil is the one who gets the respite and once again, leaves Sybil to solve the day's problems. Personally, I think this would've been a good episode to end the series. Although unintentionally, it rounds out the other episodes nicely and pretty much drives home the fact that Fawlty Towers is a hotel that's beyond help.