Fawlty Towers. Image shows from L to R: Manuel (Andrew Sachs), Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales), Polly (Connie Booth). Copyright: BBC
Fawlty Towers
- TV sitcom
- BBC Two
- 1975 - 1979
- 12 episodes (2 series)
Comedy about a hotel and its owner, a man of infinite rudeness with a rabid dislike of almost all guests. Stars John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Ballard Berkeley and more.
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1 - A Touch Of Class
Fawlty Towers. Image shows from L to R: Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), Lord Melbury (Michael Gwynn)
In his endless strive to improve the quality of Fawlty Towers, Basil places an advert in a high-society magazine, and soon has a Lord Melbury checking in - but all is not quite as it seems.
Notes
This episode was originally filmed as a pilot for the series.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Friday 19th September 1975
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- BBC Two
- Length
- 30 minutes
- Recorded
-
- Monday 23rd December 1974, 20:00 at BBC Television Centre (Filmed as a pilot)
Repeats
Show past repeats
| Date | Time | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 10th May 2009 | 11:05pm | Gold |
| Saturday 6th August 2011 | 10:30pm | Gold |
| Sunday 7th August 2011 | 9:10pm | Gold |
| Friday 30th September 2011 | 10:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 1st October 2011 | 9:15pm | Gold |
| Friday 10th February 2012 | 10:00pm | Gold |
| Friday 20th April 2012 | 11:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 21st April 2012 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Monday 2nd July 2012 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Monday 2nd July 2012 | 11:40pm | Gold |
| Sunday 14th October 2012 | 7:00pm | BBC2 |
| Friday 26th October 2012 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 27th October 2012 | 12:30am | Gold |
| Saturday 16th February 2013 | 9:10pm | Gold |
| Sunday 17th February 2013 | 7:00pm | Gold |
| Wednesday 12th June 2013 | 8:20pm | Gold |
| Thursday 13th June 2013 | 5:50pm | Gold |
| Saturday 17th August 2013 | 4:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 17th August 2013 | 9:45pm | Gold |
| Monday 2nd September 2013 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 3rd September 2013 | 7:00pm | Gold |
| Friday 31st January 2014 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 1st February 2014 | 7:30pm | Gold |
| Thursday 6th March 2014 | 8:20pm | Gold |
| Friday 7th March 2014 | 12:20pm | Gold |
| Thursday 11th September 2014 | 9:20pm | Gold |
| Friday 12th September 2014 | 6:50pm | Gold |
| Monday 3rd November 2014 | 10:40pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 4th November 2014 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 9th December 2014 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Wednesday 10th December 2014 | 5:00pm | Gold |
| Wednesday 7th January 2015 | 10:20pm | Gold |
| Thursday 8th January 2015 | 7:40pm | Gold |
| Thursday 9th April 2015 | 8:20pm | Gold |
| Friday 1st May 2015 | 6:50pm | Gold |
| Saturday 2nd May 2015 | 11:20am | Gold |
| Sunday 6th September 2015 | 11:00pm | Gold |
| Monday 7th September 2015 | 10:00pm | Gold |
| Saturday 19th September 2015 | 1:30pm | Gold |
| Sunday 20th September 2015 | 9:00am | Gold |
| Wednesday 7th October 2015 | 10:40pm | Gold |
| Thursday 8th October 2015 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Friday 26th February 2016 | 9:15pm | Gold |
| Monday 29th February 2016 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 1st March 2016 | 1:20pm | Gold |
| Monday 11th July 2016 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 12th July 2016 | 7:20pm | Gold |
| Monday 8th August 2016 | 10:45pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 9th August 2016 | 9:00pm | Gold |
| Monday 5th September 2016 | 9:15pm | Gold |
| Monday 26th September 2016 | 9:15pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 10th January 2017 | 8:40pm | Gold |
| Thursday 2nd March 2017 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Friday 17th March 2017 | 6:55pm | Gold |
| Wednesday 5th July 2017 | 8:40pm | Gold |
| Thursday 6th July 2017 | 6:40pm | Gold |
| Monday 10th July 2017 | 3:00pm | Gold |
| Monday 10th July 2017 | 7:40pm | Gold |
| Monday 10th July 2017 | 8:20pm | Gold |
| Monday 4th September 2017 | 10:40pm | Yesterday |
| Tuesday 5th September 2017 | 9:00pm | Yesterday |
| Wednesday 7th February 2018 | 9:20pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 20th February 2018 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Wednesday 21st February 2018 | 2:00pm | Gold |
| Friday 18th January 2019 | 8:40pm | Gold |
| Saturday 19th January 2019 | 4:30pm | Gold |
| Monday 18th March 2019 | 11:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 19th March 2019 | 9:20pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 8th October 2019 | 10:50pm | Yesterday |
| Wednesday 9th October 2019 | 9:00pm | Yesterday |
| Sunday 3rd November 2019 | 6:35pm | Gold |
| Monday 4th November 2019 | 5:55pm | Gold |
| Monday 6th January 2020 | 9:40pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 7th January 2020 | 1:05am | Gold |
| Monday 15th March 2021 | 8:30pm | BBC1 |
| Monday 15th November 2021 | 8:00pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 16th November 2021 | 2:40pm | Gold |
| Monday 28th February 2022 | 9:20pm | Gold |
| Tuesday 1st March 2022 | 3:20pm | Gold |
| Sunday 15th May 2022 | 9:00pm | Gold |
Cast & crew
| John Cleese | Basil Fawlty |
| Prunella Scales | Sybil Fawlty |
| Andrew Sachs | Manuel |
| Connie Booth | Polly |
| Ballard Berkeley | Major Gowen |
| Michael Gwynn | Lord Melbury |
| Robin Ellis | Danny Brown |
| Martin Wyldeck | Sir Richard Morris |
| David Simeon | Mr. Mackenzie |
| Terence Conoley | Mr. Wareing |
| Lionel Wheeler | Mr. Watson |
| John Cleese | Writer |
| Connie Booth | Writer |
| John Howard Davies | Director |
| John Howard Davies | Producer |
| Bill Harris | Editor |
| Peter Kindred | Production Designer |
| Dennis Wilson | Composer |
Press
The unexamined sitcom is not worth watching
Sometimes, a sitcom mystery you've wondered about for years suddenly gets resolved. And for Dirty Feed, this one is the motherlode. After all, with the pilot episode of Fawlty Towers, you're talking about something as close as you can get to a sacred text around here.
Tanya Jones, Dirty Feed, 3rd April 2023