The Wedding Party

Name: The Wedding Party
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1975-10-03
Rating: 8.3
Cast: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs

Episode aired Oct 3, 1975
TV-PGTV-PG
33min

S1.E3

Basil Fawlty's puritanical streak comes out when a young couple he suspects of not being married tries to book a double room. He's ready to give them rooms on separate floors until Sybil ste... Read allBasil Fawlty's puritanical streak comes out when a young couple he suspects of not being married tries to book a double room. He's ready to give them rooms on separate floors until Sybil steps in. It turns out that the couple know Polly but when he sees her coming out of their ro... Read allBasil Fawlty's puritanical streak comes out when a young couple he suspects of not being married tries to book a double room. He's ready to give them rooms on separate floors until Sybil steps in. It turns out that the couple know Polly but when he sees her coming out of their room - she was trying on a dress her friend had brought her for the wedding they would be at... Read all

8.3/10

1.8K

Director
- John Howard Davies(uncredited)
Writers
- John Cleese(by)
- Connie Booth(by)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

John Cleese, Trevor Adams, Prunella Scales, and April Walker in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese and Andrew Sachs in Fawlty Towers (1975)

Trevor Adams, Diana King, Conrad Phillips, and April Walker in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese and Prunella Scales in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese and Yvonne Gilan in Fawlty Towers (1975)

Ballard Berkeley in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese and Ballard Berkeley in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese and Diana King in Fawlty Towers (1975)

John Cleese, Trevor Adams, Ballard Berkeley, Connie Booth, Andrew Sachs, and April Walker in Fawlty Towers (1975)

Basil Fawlty's puritanical streak comes out when a young couple he suspects of not being married tries to book a double room. He's ready to give them rooms on separate floors until Sybil steps in. It turns out that the couple know Polly but when he sees her coming out of their room - she was trying on a dress her friend had brought her for the wedding they would be attending - Basil begins to think everyone has gone mad. All that's left is for another guest, Mrs. Peignoir, to get tipsy and make a pass at him. For Manuel, it's his birthday and a night of celebrating takes its toll. —garykmcd

couple birthday puritanical eviction undressing 21 more

Trivia
When Basil hits Manuel over the head with a pan, the prop designer installed heavy padding in one of the pans. But during filming, John Cleese couldn't see in the dark and grabbed the wrong pan-one that was totally unpadded. Andrew Sachs was almost knocked unconscious and suffered a headache for days.

Goofs
The doorbell goes at night and Basil complains that someone has forgotten their pass key. When he goes downstairs to open the door, he slides back two bolts before opening the door. Anyone who had their pass key wouldn't have been able to get in either.

Quotes
Basil Fawlty: [about Sybil's laugh] It reminds me of somebody machine-gunning a seal.

Crazy credits
The 2nd "W" of the Fawlty Towers sign is displaced.

Connections
Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998)

Top review

8/10

Try And Remember The Time It Was Set In

I saw this episode when I was a child and because there was so much sexual innuendo the episode went right over my head . Sure I knew it was funny but didn't realise the reasons why it was funny . It's difficult to believe that a large audience would be watching this episode for the very first time but if they did they too may be puzzled by it and not for entirely different reasons

The reason is the world has moved on from the mid 1970s and rightly or wrongly we live in more liberal times . A young unmarried couple booking a room for the primary reason of sex wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eyelid . Not so in the mid 1970s when puritan hotel owners who drool over the editorial of the Daily Mail and feeling unclean walking past The News Of The World stand on a Sunday morning would expel any unmarried amorous couple and then close the hotel for a few hours while they fumigate the rooms

Bare this in mind and you'll have a lot of fun watching this episode which revolves around a comedy of errors and innuendo , in other words classic British comedy . The episode relies upon a bit too much coincidence of someone being in the right place and doing something to push the plot along but it's FAWLTY TOWERS so any small contrivance is forgivable . It also contains one of Basil's classic lines as he thinks up a quick witted excuse - " Oh what a terrible nightmare "

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