| FAWLTY TOWERS: 3 DISC BOX SET |
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| Year: 1975/1979 Starring: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Connie Booth, Andrew Sachs Region: 2 Director: John Howard Davies, Bob Spiers Running Time: 360 minutes Chapters: 96 Notes: Box set that contains both series one and two, and a third disc containing extra features |
| The most famous (infamous?) hotel in sit com history finally appears on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the series (is that possible?) it follows the day to day events in a hotel in the South West of England. But this isn't any normal hotel, as viewing will show. Con artists, visiting Germans, cowboy builders, failed wedding anniversaries, chaotic gourmet evenings and a lot more conspire to cock things up for Basil Fawlty, the world's harshest hotelier. Over the course of twelve episodes we are treated to some of the best examples of farce ever seen in comedy history, each episode starting off semi-normally, before exploding into full blown chaos within 30 minutes. Yes it's true the series looked a bit tatty now, with it's wobbly sets and dated look, but the humour is just as sharp and witty as it was then. There are fine performances from all, Scales as Basil's dominant wife, Sachs as the bumbling Spanish waiter Manuel, and Booth as Polly, the only sane member of staff in the place holding it all together. The way the series is written means the guests are just as much a character as the staff, in each episode visitors experience the full wrath of Fawlty's "expertise" in the leisure trade. It's just a real shame that more episodes were not made, but the abandoned film idea explained by Cleese in the DVD interviews perhaps didn't sound like a very good idea after September 11th! |
| EXTRA FEATURES On each of the two discs containing the episodes there are animated menus, subtitle options and commentaries by the directors. These are mixed a little too quiet however, and you are faced with listening to the commentary or veering off and hearing the series dialogue too much. There are some great interviews with Cleese, Sachs and Scales where all recount anecdotes and experiences honestly. A 12 minute short film on the real life influence for the series, some out takes, a rare trailer introduced by Cleese in Basil Fawlty mode and some hidden footage of the real life location of the Fawlty Towers exterior make up the remainder of extras. |
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