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Fawlty Towers rewatch - episodes 2.5 and 2.6
trevor travis
The episodes: (2.5) The Anniversary and (2.6) Basil The Rat
The date: Wednesday, December 14th, 2022
The time: 7.45pm and 8.20pm UK time respectively

We've come to the end of our Fawlty Towers re-watch already! Next week, it's B7 rewatches on both Tuesday (Warlord) and Wednesday (Blake), before we re-start on Wednesdays (with Hyperdrive?) in the second week of January 2023.

Dailymotion links (in case you haven't got these otherwise)
The Anniversary: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7m...eo/x7mt42s
Basil The Rat: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7m...eo/x7mt44q
(Looks like you need to play the above at 1.25 speed!)
Vote Og.
 
Cygnus Bazza
'Anniversary' is one of the lesser episodes, for me. Possibly the weakest. As close as FT ever came to 'Terry & June'/conventional sitcom territory.

Fond personal memories of 'BtR'. Remember (due to industrial action at the Beeb ) waiting a LONG 6 months for it - and when it was finally broadcast, it was on my birthday! Only added to the excitement of getting a big 'Starsky' jumper, KISS Alive 2, Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East and Cheap Trick at Budokan*. Hello, Tokyo! Schooldays, eh?

* Edit: Bonus point if anyone can actually be bothered to tell me what those three albums have in common. No? Never mind.
Edited by Cygnus Bazza on 14-12-2022 17:07
 
OneSparePart

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

'Anniversary' is one of the lesser episodes, for me. Possibly the weakest. As close as FT ever came to 'Terry & June'/conventional sitcom territory.

Fond personal memories of 'BtR'. Remember (due to industrial action at the Beeb ) waiting a LONG 6 months for it - and when it was finally broadcast, it was on my birthday! Only added to the excitement of getting a big 'Starsky' jumper, KISS Alive 2, Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East and Cheap Trick at Budokan*. Hello, Tokyo! Schooldays, eh?

* Edit: Bonus point if anyone can actually be bothered to tell me what those three albums have in common. No? Never mind.

Is it: they are terrible?


Grin
Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!
 
OneSparePart
Oh dear. I have gone and arranged a night out on the lash for tonight...missing you already!
I shall be the worse for wear tomorrow and I am (supposed to be) going out Thursday as well... I won't mention Friday...

TT, as a special Xmas treat, you can award whatever points you wish. M'Virn, feel free to throw a spanner in the works points wise. CB, you're just going to do that anyway!
Have a great rewatch Basils!
Ees not a rat ees a hhhhhugbot! AngryFrown
Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!
 
Cygnus Bazza

OneSparePart wrote:


Is it: they are terrible?

Grin

That's really quite hurtful.

But not entirely inaccurate, given the benefit of 40+ years of hindsight. The actual answer is/was - they're all classic 'live' albums that aren't completely 'live' (i.e. significant use was made of studio overdubs, soundcheck versions etc).

Careful with the Liebfraumilch tonight. Two bottles will be ample. Before 9pm, anyway.
 
M1795537OCVirn
HI, sorry I'm late. Everyone OK here?
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
Well, I'm here. Are we running a skeleton service tonight. Or 'skelington service' to quote a platform announcer from a previous era of industrial action.
 
Cygnus Bazza
OneSparePart is rippin' it up tonight, so won't be with us - and is probably looking at a night in the cells.
 
M1795537OCVirn
What have I missed? How far into the ep are you?
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
Haven't started - not quarter-to yet.
 
Cygnus Bazza
If no-one else turns up, could always watch Waldorf Salad insteadSmile
 
M1795537OCVirn
Oh, ok then. Caught an interview with JOhn Cleese about FT - he's so overpoweringly boring to listen to in RL. Decided to look for one with Connie Booth instead.
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
This is going extremely well.
 
Cygnus Bazza
Started...
 
trevor travis
Hi everyone - STARTED
Vote Og.
 
Cygnus Bazza
Not a huge fan of this one. It's' a bit 'straight'.
 
Cygnus Bazza
The paella sub-plot is quite feeble - and annoying.
 
Cygnus Bazza
This episode raises the key question: do (and if so how much do) Basil and Sybil still love each other?
 
Cygnus Bazza
We've got Una Stubbs to look forward to. No Sir Cliff and Hank Marvin, though.
 
Cygnus Bazza
As I mentioned earlier, it's all a bit 'Terry and June'
 
trevor travis
Basil being nice for once - he's organised something for their anniversary.
Vote Og.
 
M1795537OCVirn

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

This episode raises the key question: do (and if so how much do) Basil and Sybil still love each other?


As much as they ever did?
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
Do feel free to join in.
 
Cygnus Bazza
Manuel's cardy is quite a thing.
 
Cygnus Bazza
Comb-over alert! Reminds me of all those 70s footballers who spent 95% of the game with it dangling on their shoulder and the other 5% pushing it back up and over with their hand.
 
Cygnus Bazza
So Basil is 'Baz'. I knew we had a lot in common. Maybe 'Cygnus Basil' was his full name.
 
trevor travis
Basil making things much worse as usual!
Vote Og.
 
M1795537OCVirn
Una channelling Joan Simms?
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
M1795537OCVirn

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

Do feel free to join in.


When we can get a word in....
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
Basil's initial small lie starts cascading, as it always does.
 
Cygnus Bazza

M1795537OCVirn wrote:

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

Do feel free to join in.


When we can get a word in....

Brutal
 
Cygnus Bazza
Arthur really could be Blake's younger brother
 
M1795537OCVirn

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

Arthur really could be Blake's younger brother


Then or now?
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
trevor travis
This is quite different - apart from Audrey, there's been no indication of other people in either Basil's or Sybil's social circles.
Vote Og.
 
M1795537OCVirn

Cygnus Bazza wrote:

Basil's initial small lie starts cascading, as it always does.


Lies are like that. You have to keep remembering what you said.
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza
Basil and Syb have (relatively) normal friends. Is that plausible?
 
Cygnus Bazza
'Slightly serious' - fabulous!
 
M1795537OCVirn
Is it Strep A? (One of my cadets has gone down with it. Bought her some ice cream).
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
Cygnus Bazza

M1795537OCVirn wrote:

Is it Strep A? (One of my cadets has gone down with it. Bought her some ice cream).

Serious point - is this the origin of the brand name 'Strepsils'? Never thought of it before.
 
M1795537OCVirn
This ep is so fast - must have been hard to get right in rehearsal.
"You're not sulking, I hope?"
 
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