Fawlty Towers (TV Series) The Wedding Party (1975) User Reviews

A Fawlty Towers style sex comedy

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 23 October 2020]

Basil is convinced several guests are engaging in inappropriate behaviour inside the hotel.

This episode is one of the best sexually themed comedies I have ever seen. Most of the jokes revolve around characters hilariously misinterpreting situations where sex is not actually happening.

As you can imagine Basil has a puritanical view on the subject that is driven by the frustration of his own marriage. This leads him to all manner of outrageous behaviour including spying on his guests, jumping to conclusions and ironically being in a number of seemingly compromising positions.

There are a number of classic moments, probably the standout part for me is when Basil believes an amorous French lady to be outside his bedroom door when it is in fact Cybil. The way he gets himself out of trouble here is brilliant.

John Cleese gives another incredible performance and is supported well by the regular cast, particularly Andrew Sachs as a drunk Manuel celebrating his birthday.

This room is exactly the same as.....

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 8 October 2018]

I love The Wedding Party, my favourite of the three opening episodes. It is beautifully written, wonderfully performed, and does a good job at showing Basil's real character, quick to judge, but well meaning, definitely more refined then Cybil. As always it's an exhausting watch, guaranteed to get you worked up.

So many laughs throughout, a drunken Manuel, Sybil's conversation with Audrey, and of course Basil's misunderstood conversation with Alan about batteries. It is however the scene where Basil shows a bemused Rachel Lloyd around another room, Diana King is a joy in this, and the expression on her face throughout her time with Basil is hilarious. Mrs Peignoir is such a funny character.

This first series is golden, they could simply do not wrong. This is a classic. 9/10

A Sexy Episode!

[faincut · 9/10 · 27 January 2006]

In this episode Basil is led to believe that a group of sex maniacs are staying in his hotel. He is appalled by this, and tries to ruin their so called plans. Misunderstanding runs in the hotel as Basil himself is believed to be engaging bizarre sexual act with Manuel. I could not stop laughing as Basil tried to prevent a woman from seeing her husband "cheating" her with Polly - it was great! and also when John Cleese (Basil) accidentally knock out Andrew Sachs (Manuel) during the end scene where Basil hits Manuel over the head with a frying pan, thinking he was an intruder. One of the best episodes of the only 12 made. (Although they say there is a secret 13th episode somewhere).

Another flawless episode.

[BA_Harrison · 8 December 2017]

Fawlty Towers does bedroom farce, with hotel owner Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) mistakenly believing that his current guests, a young unmarried couple and an older couple, are swingers indulging in morally dubious sexual conduct, even involving pretty maid Polly (Connie Booth).

Desperate to maintain a respectable establishment, Basil goes into manic overdrive, ultimately ordering his guests to leave and sacking Polly. When Sybil eventually explains to Basil that the young woman is actually the older couple's daughter and that Polly is an old school friend, the result is another perfectly executed emotional breakdown from Cleese.

Lots of great situation comedy makes this episode a winner, including Basil being repeatedly caught by his guests in compromising positions with waiter Manuel, and Basil trying to avoid amorous antiques dealer Mrs. Peignoir (Yvonne Gilan). The sight of Polly in a tight T-shirt and stripped to her underwear doesn't hurt either.

Basil Vs. The Permissive Society

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 14 January 2010]

A heat wave engulfs Torquay. It appears to be affecting the libido of both guests and staff of Fawlty Towers, or so Basil thinks. Polly is walking around with no bra on, and an unmarried young couple called Alan Bruce ( Trevor Adams ) and Jean Wilson ( April Walker ) try to book a room, posing as newlyweds. Basil is having none of it and makes it his business to put a stop to any hanky-panky in his hotel. His task is made harder by the amorous advances of French antiques dealer Mrs.Peignoir ( Yvonne Gilan )...

In 'A Touch Of Class', we saw Basil the snob. In 'The Builders', we got Basil the skinflint. Here its Basil the puritan. As ever, Cleese carries the role off superbly, becoming a seething cauldron of resentment and slyly suggesting that he is not getting any sex himself. When the Lloyds move in, Basil becomes convinced that they ( and Alan and Jean ) are swingers. In reality, they are all part of the same family, and Polly an old school friend of Jean's. Basil's quest to 'clean up' the hotel is obstructed by his always finding himself in gay postures with birthday boy Manuel. He flirts harmlessly with Mrs.Peignoir, but at no time takes advantage of the situation, probably fearful of what Sybil would do to him if he were caught being unfaithful.

The episode works well as a snapshot of '70's attitudes towards sex, with Basil's 'Daily Mail' puritanism oddly matched by Jean Wilson's disgust towards homosexual behaviour, something that would not be put on television now. Note that Basil and Sybil have separate beds, and his preferred nocturnal reading is 'Jaws'!

Trevor Adams went on to play 'Tony 'Great' Webster' in 'The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin' which ran from 1976-78, and April Walker graced numerous 'Two Ronnies' sketches, most notably 'St.Botolph's Country Dancing Team' in Season 5 in which she was Arthur Klump's sister. Diana King was in more sitcoms than I've had hot dinners, often cast as snooty mothers-in-law.

Funniest moment - Alan asks Basil where he can find a chemist. He wants batteries for his razor, but Basil jumps to the wrong conclusion. Realising his error, he changes his 'disgust' for Alan's sexual acrobatics to one of disdain at him not having shaved that day.

This is, by the way, the episode, with the infamous frying pan scene. Thinking Manuel to be a burglar, Basil whacks him on the head. Though the frying pan was padded, it still managed to hurt Andrew Sachs, and the studio audience senses this, exclaiming "Oooooooh!" en masse.

We've Been to a Wedding

[oceanave · 9/10 · 31 August 2006]

The title of this episode is kind of a misnomer, as the wedding element is really tertiary. It's quite funny, though - and sex is indeed the focus. Basil immediately gets his back up when a young couple, The Wilsons, come in and ask for a room. It turns out they are old friends of Polly's, who are in town to attend a wedding. As usual, Basil makes an ass out of himself when the young man comes down to the front desk to ask for "some batteries" (which Basil mistakes for 'sexual stimulants'!) The best moment comes when Basil passes by and hears erotic noises - immediately after which, Polly emerges from their room. Meanwhile, an attractive older French lady, Mrs. Peignoir, is tempting Basil, much to the consternation of Sybil - and Manuel is celebrating his birthday as best he knows how, in typical wild 'Barcelona' style. This episode doesn't doesn't have much of a climax or spectacular finish, but it's got the usual quota of laughs throughout.

Try And Remember The Time It Was Set In

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 11 July 2013]

I saw this episode when I was a child and because there was so much sexual innuendo the episode went right over my head . Sure I knew it was funny but didn't realise the reasons why it was funny . It's difficult to believe that a large audience would be watching this episode for the very first time but if they did they too may be puzzled by it and not for entirely different reasons

The reason is the world has moved on from the mid 1970s and rightly or wrongly we live in more liberal times . A young unmarried couple booking a room for the primary reason of sex wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eyelid . Not so in the mid 1970s when puritan hotel owners who drool over the editorial of the Daily Mail and feeling unclean walking past The News Of The World stand on a Sunday morning would expel any unmarried amorous couple and then close the hotel for a few hours while they fumigate the rooms

Bare this in mind and you'll have a lot of fun watching this episode which revolves around a comedy of errors and innuendo , in other words classic British comedy . The episode relies upon a bit too much coincidence of someone being in the right place and doing something to push the plot along but it's FAWLTY TOWERS so any small contrivance is forgivable . It also contains one of Basil's classic lines as he thinks up a quick witted excuse - " Oh what a terrible nightmare "

Horny

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 9 April 2020]

I like the bit where he hits manual really hard with a frying pan

The Wedding Party

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 18 February 2023]

It is easy to see why this show is so beloved: it takes place in a simple setting and has relatable characters that we all know and love. To me the comedy in tonight's episode simply felt a bit too forced and did not come off as particularly natural or necessary.

As an American these episodes are slightly longer than our sitcoms so that takes just a tad of adjusting, but that is not the bulk of the issue. The guests at the hotel playing off of Basil need to be a little bit stronger and it certainly feels like they are not living up to that bargain.

It is still funny though and I definitely recommend everyone watch it.