The Hotel Inspectors

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"The Hotel Inspectors" is the fourth episode of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.

The episode appears to have drawn some inspiration from Nikolai Gogol's similarly themed The Government Inspector.^[1]

Plot[]

Two guests, Mr. Walt and Mr. Hutchinson, arrive separately at reception. Mr. Walt says very little, whereas Mr. Hutchinson speaks in a very drawn-out and pompous, overly affected manner that immediately irritates Basil. Basil becomes increasingly irate as Hutchinson makes many awkward requests and asks for specific directions to a meeting. While Basil draws Hutchinson a map containing an abbreviation of Post Office ("P. Off"), Mr. Walt misinterprets a comment from Basil; Walt thinks he himself is being told to "P-off". Basil also produces picture cards for Manuel to understand what he is saying. After Sybil finishes her telephone conversation, she informs Basil that a friend of Audrey's discovered the presence of three hotel inspectors in town. This information raises Basil's blood pressure several notches; determined to work out who the inspectors are, he realises with horror that any of the guests he's been monstering could be one of them.

While Mr. Hutchinson is requesting to reserve the television to watch a documentary he is interested in, he says something which makes Basil's hair stand on end: "In my professional activities I am in constant contact with hotels." This — combined with Hutchinson's neediness, his suggestions on how the hotel could be improved, and his overinflated style of speaking — convinces Basil that Hutchinson is actually an inspector; he changes his attitude towards Hutchinson, instead treating him like a VIP. He escorts him to the dining room, where lunch is about to be served. Basil ends up overlooking Mr. Walt, who is forced to wait after his bottle of Aloxe-Corton wine^[2] proves to be corked (just after Basil is forced to dig out the bad cork so he can serve the wine), even though Hutchinson is taking a phone call. Sybil quietly reveals to Basil that she overhead Mr. Hutchinson's conversation and he is, in fact, a cutlery salesman. Feeling conned, Basil swears revenge on Hutchinson. However, Basil's relief is short-lived when, during a conversation with Basil, Mr. Walt casually mentions that he is in Torquay "on business with two colleagues." This convinces Basil that Walt is actually the inspector. In order to avoid making a bad impression on Walt, Basil tries to pacify Hutchinson, who is annoyed because several instances of table-switching has caused confusion in the kitchen and led to Hutchinson being served several dishes he did not order. To stifle Hutchinson's complaining, Basil gags him and then subtly punches him, rendering him unconscious.

Hutchinson regains consciousness and starts punching Basil at the reception desk, who accepts it without retaliation since they are in Mr. Walt's presence. Hutchinson storms off to gather his things, declaring that he does not expect to receive a bill. Walt is flabbergasted, especially when Basil tries to bribe him against mentioning this recent chain of events when he reviews the hotel. Basil immediately goes into hysterics, realising how much he has just risked the hotel's reputation. Mr. Walt reveals he is actually an outboard motors salesman and consoles Basil. Thinking he is in the clear, Basil thanks Walt and then runs to the kitchen with Manuel, who stops Mr. Hutchinson from leaving just long enough so that Basil can "say adios." Basil then slaps pies on Mr. Hutchinson's face and crotch, while Manuel pours cream into his briefcase. Hutchinson is marched to the door and forcibly ejected from the hotel by a vengeful Basil, who kisses Manuel on the head for his help. Returning to the reception desk, Basil welcomes John, Brian and Chris — three smartly-dressed businessmen who have just witnessed the assault on Hutchinson — to Fawlty Towers. He screams in terror when it becomes clear that they are the hotel inspectors.

Cast[]

Episode-credited cast:

• John Cleese as Basil Fawlty
• Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty
• Andrew Sachs as Manuel
• Connie Booth as Polly Sherman
• Ballard Berkeley as Major Gowen
• Gilly Flower as Miss Abitha Tibbs
• Renee Roberts as Miss Ursula Gatsby

With:

• Bernard Cribbins as Mr. Hutchinson
• James Cossins as Mr. Walt
• Peter Brett as Brian (hotel inspector)
• Geoffrey Morris as John (hotel inspector)

(These two characters are credited as Brian and John but the credits make no clear connection between their names and being hotel inspectors as their names in the programme are never revealed.)

Uncredited:

• Alexander Lewis as Chris (hotel inspector)

Production notes[]

• Interior scenes of this episode were recorded on 27 August 1975, in Studio TC8 of the BBC Television Centre, before a live audience.^[3]
• "Bill Morton", whose friend overheard the hotel inspectors in a bar, was named after the vision mixer for the series.
• The scene involving the "corked" wine involved improvisation on the actors' parts. John Cleese and James Cossins were unaware of how the wine would pour. Loosely scripted dialogue was therefore at hand.
• A merger between the plot of this episode and the plot of "Gourmet Night" was the basis for the pilot episode of Payne, a 1999 American remake of Fawlty Towers.

References[]

External links[]

• "The Hotel Inspectors" at BBC Online