Often hailed as the greatest ever British sitcom, Fawlty Towers is closer to the more elaborate tradition of farce. Comprising two series made in 1975 and 1979, the total of just 12 episodes were painstakingly constructed by writers John Cleese and Connie Booth. Unlike most British farces, however, Fawlty Towers deals with the big themes--death, psychology, xenophobia and even sex-o-phobia (Basil's marriage to Sybil is the most sterile ever depicted in a sitcom). Basil's contempt for his guests is, of course, legendary. It takes little from patrons to unleash his sledgehammer sarcasm: "Rosewood, mahogany, teak? Sorry, I was wondering what you'd like your breakfast tray made out of," he sneers at a guest who dares request breakfast in bed. Like every Englishman, he wants to be king of his own castle and resents having to take in lodgers to maintain the place, especially the open-necked younger generation, whom he regards as sub-human. Mostly, though, Fawlty Towers is comedy of exasperation--who can forget the "damn good thrashing" Basil gives his clapped-out car, or the nervous breakdowns he almost suffers trying to make himself understood to Manuel? It's also comedy of embarrassment. The very fear of losing his dignity generally leads Basil into the most spectacularly undignified of predicaments. His inevitable misery is our sheer delight.--David Stubbs

This is a unique combination of some fairly 'intellectual' and witty sayings with slapstick humour and it works brilliantly. Most comedies that are aired by the BBC are not usually repeatedly viewed as they are frankly not good enough but if they were viewed repeatedly then huge holes would appear in the plot.

I am not an expert on what makes a comedy work but these episodes contain a good story line, tension, brilliant timing, clever spatial arrangements, facial expressions, pauses and witty lines and the combination is hilarious.

It contains some allusions that would only have been picked up by a reasonably well educated audience in the 1970s e.g jokes about types of wine and the preparation of certain sorts of cuisine and references to historical events and foreign places.

Some memorable lines include:

..."What are we talking about Proust or E M Forster?" to the couple who also turned out to like Harold Robbins as well as Fawlty's wife.

..."Racket, It's Brahms!"

..."Look, this is not a proposition from Wittgenstein, you know"

..."it's not the Burma Railway..."

..."it's the Admiral Crichton!"

..."Sydney Opera House, Hanging Gardens of Babylon..."

This is combined with slapstick incidents such as pouring cream all over a difficult guest (the spoon salesman) as he was leaving the hotel.

Although one can spot very minor faults and illogicalities in the plots if one watches it again and again no other series could be repeatedly watched like this one and still seem funny. For example, Fawlty was extremely snobby about Harold Robbins but is seen reading "Jaws" in bed in another episode and this is just as bad as anything by Harold Robbins. The spoon salesman had only just beaten up Fawlty and was hardly likely to meekly walk away after being completely drenched in cream. If one ignores these minor inconsistencies in the plots, however, the illusion and the humour work brilliantly.

Absolutely splendid.

Fawlty Towers is (of course) as good as comedy gets and this package is a bargain. However completists may want to be patient. Rumour has it that John Cleese is preparing commentaries for all 12 episodes in preparation for an extra special re-release. I believe he needs the money to pay for his divorce!

The Complete Fawlty Towers offers 12 delighful and entertaining episodes to viewers in a nicely presented DVD package. BBC is renowned for its long line of great comedies during the glorious era of the 70's to the 80's. Fawlty Towers represents the list. The extras are not anything special. It not really relevant as the DVD set entertains you.

The idea of Fawlty Towers was inspired by the hotel trade business during the 1970's. Basil's (played wonderfully by John Cleese) character is a typical representation of a rude and agressive hotel owner based in a seaside location. He lacks respect for anyone else. The remarks are really insulting. cruel and predujuice towards others. The customer care skills are absymal,as his attidude towards customers really stinks. The hilarious antiques involving petit quarrels and eccentric behaviour towards guests are the main highlights of the show. The wife Sybril is the mirror image of Basil. Manuel the spanish servant (played wonderfully by Andrew Sachs) does not speak English fluently, very clumsby and stupid, but likeable. Manuel is an unfortunate victim of Basil's constant bullying and racist attacks. That is a real flavour of what to expect. It potrayed the hotel business and politics in a comical display.

Depsite the short-running of Fawlty Towers, it is still voted one of the best British TV programmes according to recent surveys. The ideas and characters are the main selling points that established Fawlty Towers as a frontrunner of classical British comedies. The Complete Fawlty Towers is a great set DVD set for anyone who loves and appreciates quality comedy.

I am sure that you, reading this review of the Fawlty Towers boxset, are already well aquainted with this marvellous sitcom, and I am not going to bore you with details of the hilarity. Naturally (naturellement!) the episodes themselves are worth 5 stars apiece.

I am instead going to inform you of the things that you may not already know- the quality and quantity of the extras, and the transfer to DVD.

The first few episodes do not have very clear pictures- I bought series 1 on DVD seperately a while ago and the picture on this edition is somehow more grainy.

The interviews are a good accompaniment to the boxset, with a particularly long one from John Cleese. In addition to these is information on what some of the actors have done since Fawlty Towers, which is interesting but a little boring.

I mainly bought this boxset for the outakes- these would no-doubt be a fascinating insight into the actors, and funny also! But they were distinctly underwhelming- apart from John Cleese making silly faces at the camera I only counted 3 proper outakes, of which only 1 was worth seeing.

These faults, however, are totally overshadowed by the brilliance of the sitcom and, although some of the extras felt a little rushed, the extras do make a nice addition to the boxset and make it feel complete. If you already own both series on DVD then there is no real need to buy this boxset. But if, like me, you enjoy having all of your comedy in one place, and if you are itching to experience these extras, then by all means, go ahead. At ??13.48, this is an absolute bargain, and if you do not purchase this boxset I shall come around and insert a large garden gnome in you.

Good day!

Fawlty Towers is definitely among the top 5 comedies ever made. This DVD has both series and an extras disc. I have to say, although better than nothing at all (which is what the BBC seems to like to give some of it's classics, i.e. Only Fools and Horses) the extras aren't that brilliant. There's a couple of out takes, which are funny, and brief profiles of the actors. The interviews with the stars are long and, although it was interesting to find out what inspired the series and the characters, I ended up turning them off before the end because I was starting to get a bit bored of them.

The series itself is classic, there's no two ways about it, and most certainly deserves 5 stars on its own. Scenes like "Don't mention the war" and "Waldorf Salad", along with "Que?" and "Mr Fawlty I know nothing" will have you howling with laughter, even if they are over 30 years old. If you love Fawlty Towers as much as I do, then this DVD is definitely worth having.