The Kipper and the Corpse (12 Mar. 1979)

One of the guests has died in his sleep, but Basil thinks it's due to serving him spoiled food.

Director:

Bob Spiers

Writers:

John Cleese (by), Connie Booth (by)

Stars:

John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
Connie Booth	...	Polly Sherman
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Dr. Price
Mavis Pugh	...	Mrs. Chase
Richard Davies	...	Mr. White
Elizabeth Benson	...	Mrs. White
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Agatha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby
Brian Hall	...	Terry
Derek Royle	...	Mr. Leeman
Robert McBain	...	Mr. Xerxes
Pamela Buchner	...	Miss Young

Storyline

One of the hotel's guests dies in his sleep but Basil doesn't really notice and just goes about his business, delivering the man's breakfast to his room and then complaining that he was rude and didn't thank him. Polly soon realizes he is dead and Sybil asks another guest, Dr. Price, to attend to the situation. Basil thinks the out of date kippers were the cause, but he's been dead most of the night. Pandemonium sets in when they try to remove the body without any of the guests knowing what has happened. It doesn't quite go as planned.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | kipper | doctor | traumatic shock | car accident | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 1979 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

32 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 1999 interview, John Cleese said that he had asked the manager of The Savoy what the worst problem was for a hotelier. The manager said it was dealing with guests that died. This gave rise to the episode "The Kipper and The Corpse". Cleese named the corpse "Mr. Leeman" in honor of the Savoy manager.

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Goofs

The wall wobbles when Basil runs up the stairs to check if Mr Leeman is dead.

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Quotes

[Mr. Leeman asks for breakfast in bed in the morning; Sybil takes a detailed note of what he'd like to have, but Basil, who doesn't like this special request, can't leave it alone]
Basil Fawlty: Rosewood... mahogany... teak?
Mr. Leeman: I beg your pardon.
Basil Fawlty: What would you like your breakfast tray made out of?
Mr. Leeman: I don't really mind.
Basil Fawlty: Are you sure? Fine. Well, you just go down and have a really good night's sleep then. I'm hoping to get a couple of hours later on myself. I'll be up in time to serve you your breakfast in bed. If...

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Connections

Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998)

User Reviews

All About Sausages

Fawlty Towers was notorious for rotten customer service, and this episode is a dissertation on it. It complements "Waldorf Salad" and "Basil the Rat" (the final episode) quite well - this time, dead bodies with a subplot involving ill-prepared kippers (and sausages) are brought into the mix. A group of executives drop off Mr. Leeman at the hotel - he dies during the night, but the hotel staff think it's a result of food poisoning of that morning's breakfast. Painstaking efforts are made by Basil, Manuel, and Polly to hide the body - carting the corpse up and down stairs, eventually depositing it first in one of the closets in a guest room and then in the kitchen. As Andrew Sachs has mentioned, they cast the Leeman character with a small man (Derek Royle) so as to make all the hauling a bit easier. The supporting cast in this one are especially good (Geoffrey Palmer as the snobby sausage-loving Dr. Price, and Mavis Pugh as Mrs. Chase, owner of the sausage-loving shi-tzu dog). Gilly Flower, who plays Ms. Tibbs, got a fairly big part in this episode after many episodes with one and two-liners, and she did it very well.

This is the episode with the well-known 'Basil pokes Manuel in the eye' scene and a bit where Basil walks in on a guest preparing to have his way with an inflatable sex doll. By episode's end, it seems like just about everyone has 'had it' with the lousy hotel - even Manuel belts out a firm, "Meeester Fawlty, I no wan' to work here anymore! I on strike!" But in the end, Basil is the one who gets the respite and once again, leaves Sybil to solve the day's problems. Personally, I think this would've been a good episode to end the series. Although unintentionally, it rounds out the other episodes nicely and pretty much drives home the fact that Fawlty Towers is a hotel that's beyond help.