Fawlty Towers - The Complete Collection (Remastered) [DVD] [1975]

Product Information

If you are in Australia or New Zealand (DVD Region 4), note that almost all DVDs distributed in the UK by the BBC and 2entertain are encoded for both Region 2 and Region 4.

Series 2 episodes are: 'Communication Problems', 'The Psychiatrist', 'Waldorf Salad', 'The Kipper and the Corpse', 'The Anniversary' and 'Basil the Rat'. I suppose I will persevere with it at some stage though and watch the whole twelve episodes with the director commentary on.Each disc has one of the famous "alternate hotel sign" title treatments on it, there is a disc breakdown on each of the flaps, and a booklet with an article about the show inside of it. Written by John Cleese and Connie-Booth, Fawlty Towers remains one of the most inspired and best-loved TV series of all time.

In ‘Waldorf Salad’, some newly-arrived American guests’ request for transatlantic cuisine does not go down well with Basil in the kitchen. Cast to perfection the series found Cleese playing much put-upon Torquay hotel owner Basil Fawlty, Prunella Scales as his domineering wife Sybil, Connie Booth as Polly, the dependable maid and Andrew Sachs in the role of Manuel, the non-comprehending, tyrannized waiter from Barcelona. The other new feature is 2009 Interviews (38:32), which gathers Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Series 1 director John Howard Davies, Bernard Cribbins (the spoon salesman, "The Hotel Inspectors"), Geoffrey Palmer (Dr. These tracks aren't wall-to-wall anecdotes or technical behind-the-scenes information, but more like what you'd expect if you knew John Cleese and sat down with him to watch the entire series.

Remember to watch the opening credits of each show to spot the creative misspellings on the hotel sign (our favorite: "Fatty Owls"). The Germans’ sees Basil failing to cope with a fire drill and the arrival of some German guests while Sybil is in hospital – ‘Don’t mention the war – I did once, but I think I got away with it! Fans of the series shouldn't worry though; it may not look better, but it doesn't look any worse than it ever has (a DVDTalk forum member mentions that it's brighter, which might be true, but all I have is my memory of the last DVD; I don't have it here to compare directly). The Builders' sees Basil in hot water with Sybil when he employs an unreliable Irish labourer to do some work in the hotel lobby. The show follows hotel manager Basil Fawlty (Cleese) as he runs the Torquay hotel 'Fawlty Towers' with the help of his wife Sibyl (Prunella Scales), chambermaid Polly (Booth) and Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs).

One of the main reasons most people will have opted for the DVD box set, or bought it even if they have the videos, is the third Special Feature disc. I'm also going to come off like a stick-in-the-mud, because it's just a comedy TV show, but many of the Basil/Sybil relationship scenes are distracting to me. If you are in the North America, look out for US/Canadian flag icons on popular product listings for direct links. Products labelled '*item fulfilled by Exertis on behalf of hmv' will be supplied to you directly by Exertis via their approved couriers.Interestingly, listening to these chats and hearing what Cleese thinks on an episode-by-episode basis probably improved my opinion of the show as a whole, so I suppose in that respect, it's excellent stuff; viewers should just be prepared for the incredibly laid-back atmosphere, which struck me as different than what might traditionally expected of a good commentary. There are rare photographs and exclusive contributions from John Cleese and Connie Booth, which help to form a guide for fans of the series. Finally, in ‘The Wedding Party’, Basil gets the wrong impression when some old friends of Polly (Booth)’s arrive at the hotel. Also included are text biographies of all the leads and the guest stars, a short background featurette on Torquay and the hotel owner who is said to have inspired Basil, a very short blooper reel of out-takes and a brief teaser with Cleese in character entitled Cheap Tatty Review.