The Great British Sitcom: Fawlty Towers

[Mel O'Drama]

Having finished the series proper I made a start on re-watching some of the John Cleese audio commentaries. He's such a perfectionist, with an editing suite in his mind. As we go along he gives very valid reasons for why this cue should have happened a second earlier, or that reaction should have been in a long shot, or why there should have been less exposition. It's fascinating. He's possibly the one person in the world who can pull it apart. But he also gives credit where it's due. And because it's balanced and he takes such a technical approach, there's no sense at all that he's blowing his own trumpet. He's simply proud at the technical achievement of bringing something from paper to reality. And he's very supportive of everyone with whom he worked. Which makes me appreciate the series even more.

The scene with James Cossins and the corked wine in The Hotel Inspectors is a great example. John's amazement at the act of serendipity with the cork accidentally getting stuck in the bottle during the take and finally spewing over the table, comes across strongly.

The Hotel Inspectors, by the way is far and away my favourite episode of the entire series.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I'm already into Series Two of my next Britcom:

I remember the theme well (I even remembered it before starting to watch). But nothing else about plots, scenes or characters. And each one of them has been a very pleasant surprise.

This series just has Granada all over it. It has that unmistakable Seventies Greater Manchester thing going on. It's hard to describe, but it just feels very comfortable and familiar to anyone who's seen Nearest and Dearest, The Lovers and Seventies Corrie.

The Corrie tone is especially welcome (and not surprising since Geoffrey Lancashire wrote both Corrie and The Lovers). The dialogue doesn't seem to be written for a sitcom. It's mostly simply punchy and witty, but completely believable. I wish I had a better memory for dialogue, because there are some great little lines that run through it. It's not bunged full of punchlines. Just sharp retorts appropriate for the situation.

Speaking of which, the situations, too, remain the right side of over the top. It's so prosaic. Fliss and Chris, could be prototypes for Kev and Sal Webster. The deckchairs in the living room remind me of the stories that were handed down in the family about how the generations before mine lived when they were newlyweds. None of this Instagram have it all stuff. But that's where Gavin comes in. He gives the series permission to be a little more out there, but that's only when he's compared with the newlyweds.

Lewis Collins, by the way, is great in this. I think of him as being very straight and serious because of the iconography around The Professionals, but he seems to have no hangups when it comes to being funny. It doesn't hurt that he's very good looking indeed. It's easy to see why he's a ladykiller. Even Joanna Lumley fell under his spell.

Most of the guest-stars are very Granada. We've had Madge Hindle - in between Nearest and Dearest and Renee Bradshaw. Ivy Tilsley's been on there, too. As the Pools winning buyer of Gav's trendy pad who fretted over her pussies.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Series Four of The Cuckoo Waltz is now underway, so the Gavin era is over. Lewis Collins as Gav was fantastic - cocky but charismatic. And the chemistry between the three leads was great.

It's early days for Ian Saynor - just one episode - but the change hasn't been too jarring. There's been some continuity with frequent mentions of Gav and the reasons for the change. The best choice was going in a different direction with Saynor's Adrian who has come across as a Mr Nice. I'm curious how it will work with the reveal that Adrian is a closet ladykiller. Hopefully he'll stay different enough to avoid direct comparison with Gavin.

Clare Kelly as Fliss's Mum, Connie Wagstaff has been consistenly enjoyable. She's a classic Northern matriarch, and would fit right into Corrie with no tweaks at all.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Im posting on Fawlty Towers @Mel O'Drama
I have dusted off my DVDs and have just watched the Psychiatrist - had forgotten just how good this episode is and how wonderful Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs were - perfect timing

I tell her you crazy for girl and she go crazy!

Sorry I never watched the Cuckoo Waltz xx

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Im posting on Fawlty Towers @Mel O'Drama
I have dusted off my DVDs and have just watched the Psychiatrist - had forgotten just how good this episode is and how wonderful Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs were - perfect timing

Excellent stuff, BF. It's much better than I'd remembered it.

Sorry I never watched the Cuckoo Waltz xx

I think you might like it. It's got a bit of a Corrie tone to it. And it has Lewis Collins in various states of undress. What's not to like?

I've taken a break from sitcom land. But I haven't strayed too far. After watching The Zoo Gang, I'm now immersed in discovering The Persuaders! which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

On a whim last night I popped my dinnerladies DVD into the player. It's many a year since I last watched it.

I haven't laughed so hard in ages. What a bloody brilliantly written series it is. Every line is a gem. It's got it all: pithy sarcasm, pop culture references, observational humour. It's very British and very Northern English while still (I would hope) having universal appeal. Victoria Wood was such a brilliant writer.

It's also perfectly cast. What with the Corrie faces from every era of the show: from Valerie Barlow and Mavis Riley through Debbie Webster to Sunita and Eileen Grimshaw. Plus all those familiar faces from Victoria Wood's earlier series: Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Duncan Preston. AND the amazing guest stars: Thora Hird, Dora Bryan, Eric Sykes (all three in the same episode); Lynda Barron.

Thelma Barlow and Anne Reid are just priceless. Reid is a terrific actress, full of gusto and very formidable, while Barlow can deadpan for England as she pulls her sourpuss face.

And it's very quotable, as I'll post below...

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A few of the lines that made me chortle hardest from Series One:

What’s wrong with Delilah?

I’ve no objection to the song. It was just Tom Jones squatting on the front of the TV Times in those swimming trunks.

’Ey, did ya see that film on Sunday?

On Sky?

No, on real telly. Dirk Bogarde.

Oh, ‘cause on Sky there was this film about this woman whose husband died in this avalanche, and two years later she finds his sperm in the freezer and gets pregnant with a turkey baster. Based on a true story… She’s been distraught for years because they hadn’t ‘ad any children.

She should’ve cleaned ‘er freezer out a bit more often.

So why did she not use her ‘usband’s sperm to get pregnant?

She did.

But you said she got pregnant with a turkey baster.

It’s a little rubber…

Oh. I thought it were a job: “Turkey Baster”.

So Dolly, this sperm. Was she just clearing out the freezer an’ there it was under the arctic roll?

More or less, yes.

And that’s just the edited version. The real quick fire conversation includes pop culture references as diverse as Death In Venice; Doctor In The House; It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum; Never The Twain; Jim Dale on the hospital trolley; Look Back In Anger, as well as social observations about lesbians and traffic wardens.

Oh, and warm salad:

Think of that for the wedding, Jean.

With Keith’s family? Last big wedding… his Auntie Dot from Cockermouth ate a raffia drinks coaster. She thought it was a high fibre biscuit. She ‘ad to be ‘eld back from moving down the table an’ buttering two more.

I liked the Nolan Sisters. They were a nice mixture.

Yeah, they were, weren’t they? ‘Cause some of them were really good lookin’ an’ some of them were a bit potato facey.

How about if we all learn to massage each other. It’s marvellous… You sit round in a circle and massage the neck and shoulders of the person in front of you.

This would be through your overall?

Yes.

So we wouldn’t be naked?

Oh no.

Because some of our appliances spit fat.

There’s been a revolution in tea bag technology in the last decade.

There’s one cup for if you just want one cup.

Pot size.

Drawstring.

Pyramid.

And they’re bringin’ one out for osteoporosis.

I have a see-through teapot with a plunger. I sent one over to New Zealand it was so good.

What’s that got to do with osteoporosis?

Oh, well I’m sorry. I didn’t realise every topic had to link up. I didn’t realise I was on Blockbusters.

Tony Blair. Stick two poems up in a bus shelter and call it a university.

You know [Brenda]’s got her mother shacked up by the bins here with a sixteen year old boy.

It’s only like Frank Sinatra an’ Mia Farrow.

Breaking wind in a food preparation area. I don’t think Mia Farrow would’ve done that.

Why do people have to spit? That ruined Titanic for me, the spitting. The iceberg couldn’t come soon enough once I saw that.

Don’t blame Bren. I’ve had post-natal disinterest for forty years.

That left filter’s off, you know, at the Derby Road turn off. I’m going to phone the council. If you want to pile scrap metal outside the library and call it “Aggression”, you can be funded for that, no problem. But be a heterosexual white woman trying to turn left, you’re not catered for.

They used to reckon that stopped you gettin’ pregnant, vinegar.

Well, ‘ow did that work then? I mean, where did you put it.

I put it on me chips. So I had no chance, did I?

Dolly was a beautiful child. Dainty. Just like a little doll. An’ then suddenly, woof. She looked like a dingy with plaits.

That was puberty.

It was not. It was pies.

 

[Barbara Fan]

@Mel O'Drama - I love dinner ladies and recently dug out my box set to watch

Its a great series, writing and casting and the only time it goes off the boil is when Sunita from Corrie has a baby and leaves it outside, that is one i fwd at a rate of knots!

Victoria Wood died far too young and is such a loss to the Writing world, she could write comedy, pathos, drama - along with Terry Wogan her death was the saddest loss to 2016

I also love the one featuring Thora Hird, Eric Sykes and some of Thoras put downs

Another one is the Party and The husbands are talking about who they like and one says Judith Chalmers, cheerful, well groomed and never at home

or when Jeans ex has a touching speech to Jean after they have split up and you really think its going somewhere but its only to get his pasting table back

Julie Walters steals every scene and of that bag with her keyring, funnel and Diarrhoea covered pink blanket

She has some wonderful one liners and love her for it. It was lovely to see Thelma Barlow aka Mavis in it and Anne Reid who i dont ever remember in Corrie
They are a great double act.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Great minds think alike. @Barbara Fan. I'm glad it's a favourite of yours as well.

the only time it goes off the boil is when Sunita from Corrie has a baby and leaves it outside

I watched that one just this evening and was unexpectedly quite touched by it.

Part of the reason I haven't watched for so long is because I remembered some of the pathos in the series in general as being quite cloying, but actually it's been nicely balanced for me. Duncan Preston was wonderful in the episode where Stan's Dad died and he was quite matter of fact about it. You could tell he was quite overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and attention, and then his voice broke just a tiny bit as he walked off. It was perfect.

Victoria Wood died far too young and is such a loss to the Writing world, she could write comedy, pathos, drama

Absolutely. Her writing is so relatable and natural. Which really helps the humour fly.

I also love the one featuring Thora Hird, Eric Sykes and some of Thoras put downs

Thora was one of my favourites in my 2018-19 Last Of The Summer Wine rewatch, and I've been very fond of her in other series. She was great here.

There was a really funny moment where she asked Celia Imrie's character, Philippa, where she was from. When Philippa said she was from Surrey, Thora started muttering inaudibly but clearly very unimpressed.

Another one is the Party and The husbands are talking about who they like and one says Judith Chalmers, cheerful, well groomed and never at home

Yes. That was a cracker.

when Jeans ex has a touching speech to Jean after they have split up and you really think its going somewhere but its only to get his pasting table back

I watched that one tonight also (it's actually the same episode as the one with the baby), and that was a great scene because I was invested in them getting back together. Just as I was subconsciously deciding whether or not their reunion would be a good idea he asks for the pasting table. Great writing.

Julie Walters steals every scene and of that bag with her keyring, funnel and Diarrhoea covered pink blanket

Oh yes! I was in the kitchen at work today. There was a funnel on one of the shelves (not stained, thankfully) and I found myself chuckling quietly thinking of that scene. It was even funnier because it wasn't acknowledged in the dialogue. It was just another wacky aspect of her character that got the viewers' minds racing.

It was lovely to see Thelma Barlow aka Mavis in it and Anne Reid who i dont ever remember in Corrie
They are a great double act.

They'e wonderful and never put a foot wrong. All of Dolly's comments about Jean's big bum and promiscuity, and Jean rolling her eyes at Dolly's primness. Wonderful characters.

Anne Reid was before my time in Corrie, too. Actually, Val Barlow died years before I was born. But somehow I always had an awareness of her. I knew she was Ken's first wife, and that she'd been electrocuted (which kind of fascinated and horrified me at the same time). When I watched the Network DVDs of the Sixties and Seventies I really like Val. I'd formed a mental image of her as someone very sweet and proper, but she actually had a fair bit of bite. I've seen Anne in a few things since and she's stood out to me as a great actress on each of those occasions.

Thelma Barlow is so funny. Dolly is quite a different character from Mavis, isn't she? And I love both characters in different ways.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I finished dinnerladies the night before last, and thought it was wrapped up in a nicely satisfying way.

The romance between Bren and Tony was nice enough, though I found it got towards the edge of my tolerance for such things. One of the few moments that got a wince from me was when they kissed in front of the Christmas tree and the audience gave a loud "ooooooh". Even with our tradition of panto, something about it seemed too demonstrative and interactive. And un-British. We might expect this kind of thing in Cheers or Friends, but I think British sitcom audiences should limit their engagement to the laughs. And perhaps the requisite assortment of coughs and the occasional throat clearing.

All the same, the romantic stuff and "serious" moments were tolerable enough. I remembered them as being more pervasive than they were, which has put me off revisiting it sooner.

I felt dread at the death of Bren's mother in case it was going to take a saccharine turn, but appreciated that it kept its wryness.

It's nice that every character got their share of the limelight. There were also some nice outbursts from Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston and of course Thelma Barlow:

Christine, did you put Viagra in my tea? ...What will it do to a woman? Where will it go? What will happen when it gets down there and finds there’s nothing to pump up? It’ll be like a Range Rover going top speed into a cul-de-sac.

I will never forgive you for that, you slimy, two-faced, flatulating bum hole.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I've just discovered these, made for the 20th anniversary of the series:

It still feels very strange to think of Victoria being dead, and her absence here only adds to that.​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A couple more...

 

[Barbara Fan]

Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston

Arent they wonderful, an added attraction and addition to any show they appear in?

My father was a desert rat.....................
nervous urinating

thanks for the extras, one thing lead to another c/o You tube and have just watched Thelma Barlow on This is your life

(see UK Soaps thread)

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Arent they wonderful, an added attraction and addition to any show they appear in?

Oh yes indeed. They're class acts and always reliable.

Have you seen the film Finding Your Feet? I watched it fairly recently and can recommend it thoroughly. Celia Imrie is great in it.

thanks for the extras, one thing lead to another c/o You tube and have just watched Thelma Barlow on This is your life

It's funny how that happens, isn't it? I ended up watching some dinnerladies outtakes and clips of Victoria Wood doing warm up for the audience of the series. Then some videos of Maxine Peake talking about her career. And I ended up on a sad note with Maxine and Julie Walters remembering working with Victoria, and Anne Reid on the news on the day of Victoria's death.

I do feel lucky to have briefly seen Victoria live when she spoke about Gloria Swanson's career during a special event. Naturally she did it in her own special way and had everyone cracking up. This was in 2015.

After the show I was standing at the bar, and someone with me kind of looked behind me and grinned. Someone brushed against my shoulder and it was none other than Victoria herself. We exchanged a little smile, but she was gone before it registered properly. I kind of wish I'd had more time to enjoy the moment, but at the same time it's nice to be able to say that I've made physical contact with Victoria Wood's puffa jacket.

 

[Barbara Fan]

do feel lucky to have briefly seen Victoria live

I saw her with girls from work in town, want to say it was late 1990s but i could be wrong - she was fab

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Well, I've failed to post about it, but I'm around two thirds of the way through a re-re-re-watch of To The Manor Born.

Very little to say except it's as reliable as ever. Penelope Keith is, of course, wonderful (as are Angela Thorne, Peter Bowles and many of the guest cast).

Oh, and I'd forgotten that the term "to the manner born" was actually used in one of the episodes.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Bestill my Brit-com loving heart!

A favorite moment that comes to mind involves Audrey's first trip into one of Richard's supermarkets. All her life she had gone to the village shop, where she would bring in a list, hand it to the woman behind the counter and wait patiently as the woman collects the 'order'. So Audrey walks into Cavendish Foods, waits a few seconds, then announces in that imperious tone "If I am not waited on soon, I shall help myself!" I wish I had the nerve to do something like that at Publix.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Bestill my Brit-com loving heart!

I thought you'd appreciate this one, Daniel.

A favorite moment that comes to mind involves Audrey's first trip into one of Richard's supermarkets. All her life she had gone to the village shop, where she would bring in a list, hand it to the woman behind the counter and wait patiently as the woman collects the 'order'. So Audrey walks into Cavendish Foods, waits a few seconds, then announces in that imperious tone "If I am not waited on soon, I shall help myself!"

It's a great fish out of water scene, and probably also typifies Brits' resistance to the very idea of self-service.

Speaking of the village shop, Daphne Oxenford has been great fun as the haughty shopkeeper. There was a great scene where she was weighing out fruit for Audrey and kept saying "Just over. OK?" The entire cost came to several pennies over the nearest pound and since neither had any change, Audrey handed her notes to Mrs Patterson and pointedly said "Just under. OK?" before flouncing off.


In other news, Brabinger has now returned, looking somewhat frailer but still carrying on regardless. Which means Ned and his squeaky footwear have been relegated to the great outdoors again.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The very idea of Ned being her 'inside man' (even temporarily) had a ring of "What could possibly go wrong?" to it but they wisely chose not to over-do it. I still have to wonder, however, how Audrey felt about Ned seeing her 'unmentionables' when he did the washing (even if she was not wearing them at the time). He would likely have offered to close his eyes while loading the washing machine. Then again, maybe the sight of Audrey's unmentionables was the catalyst for his metamorphosis into Basil the Sex Machine on Waiting For God....I mean, a man can only take so much temptation being waved under his nose.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Well, my sojourn in Marlbury has drawn to a close.

Despite previous watches, the finale took me by surprise. I knew how the series ended, but I'd forgotten how much time was taken to set up the proposal in the final episode. Around fifteen minutes in I started to feel I'd miscounted and was only watching the penultimate episode. The groundwork laid with Richard's financial troubles was appreciated.

The 25th Wedding Anniversary special, too, was very enjoyable. There's something quite timeless about the series, I think, and it works well in the 21st century. Perhaps I shouldn't be, but I was slightly taken aback by the anti EU sentiment in the writing and from the actors in the making of feature. Perhaps I noticed it more this time because it's perhaps even more topical - and sensitive - a subject today.

The very idea of Ned being her 'inside man' (even temporarily) had a ring of "What could possibly go wrong?" to it but they wisely chose not to over-do it.

I also like that Brabinger was an important enough character for his temporary absence to become part of the storyline. Many series would simply have thrown a line or two into the dialogue and that would be that. From watching the behind-the-scenes feature for the 25th Wedding Anniversary special it's clear that the cast were very fond indeed of John Rudling.

Then again, maybe the sight of Audrey's unmentionables was the catalyst for his metamorphosis into Basil the Sex Machine on Waiting For God....I mean, a man can only take so much temptation being waved under his nose.

Ha ha. Indeed.