The Anniversary (Fawlty Towers)
Encyclopedia
"The Anniversary" is the fifth episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers
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, having secretly arranged a cocktail party with their friends due to arrive any minute. However, Sybil becomes enraged with Basil as she believes that he has genuinely forgotten and walks out. As the guests arrive, Basil (aided by Polly) goes to extremes to cover up the fact that Sybil has left.
With:
from his mother's famous recipe, something he has wanted to do ever since arriving at Fawlty Towers.
Polly, meanwhile, is complaining to Terry that Basil won't give her an answer about some money she wants to borrow to buy a car. She asks Basil again and he evades her questioning.
After a confrontation between Sybil and Basil where he continues to pretend that he has absolutely no idea that it is their wedding anniversary, she storms out of the hotel. Basil initially fails to notice her leaving as he is trying to calm down a dispute erupting between Manuel and Terry, both of whom wish to cook the paella. Manuel alerts Basil that Sybil has gone.
Basil chases Sybil in order to get her to come back. However, by the time he gets outside she has already driven away and Basil is left standing in the hotel car park with his surprise guests about to arrive. As the first couple, meek Alice and her extremely annoying husband, Roger, arrive, he and Polly come up with the idea of saying that Sybil is ill and is therefore not able to attend the function. This comes back to bite Basil after another of Sybil's friends, Virginia, reminds Basil that she is a qualified nurse and becomes determined to diagnose Sybil's illness. The situation worsens when two of the guests, Kitty and Arthur, are sure they saw Sybil driving in the town, but he assures them that it was another "northern" woman who resembles her a lot. Manuel, meanwhile, complains to Basil that Terry is deliberately trying to sabotage the paella out of spite, but Basil merely tells him to handle it himself.
The made-up story of Sybil's illness gradually escalates as Basil describes what sound like horrific symptoms. He insists that the guests may not visit Sybil who is supposedly in bed upstairs. However, pressure builds on Basil when Virginia repeatedly expresses her desire to see Sybil in order to ascertain what she is suffering from. Polly then chimes in to tell Basil she think he ought to let them know, (he thinks she means tell them what has really happened) but then switches the whole story round and tells everyone the doctor has already been, and that Basil didn't tell them straight away because he didn't want to worry them. Basil says that it is serious (but not very serious, he informs them). He feigns concern and sadness to make it convincing.
Finally through pressure from the sceptical Roger ("They’ve had a row - she's refused to come down."), Basil tries reverse psychology: he informs the group that they may go up to see Sybil in bed: "I'll just pop upstairs and tell her to stop dying so that you can all come up and identify her." This naturally makes the guests feel very uncomfortable and reluctant, but Roger is not so dissuaded.
Basil now tries to force Polly to dress up as Sybil and get into her bed, in order to create the illusion that his wife is indeed incapacitated. He manhandles Polly into their room. Polly is at first very much against this idea, but after being promised by Basil that he will give her the money she needs for the car, she agrees to carry out the stunt. Manuel again complains about Terry's behavior, but Basil still refuses to intervene.
The guests are finally allowed in but because the lights are turned out, two of them trip and injure themselves. Basil opens the curtains to provide light, revealing Polly in Sybil's wig and sunglasses, tucked up in bed. The guests seem to believe that it is really Sybil. Meanwhile, Sybil returns to the hotel (to retrieve her golf clubs, as she and Audrey are about to go out to play some golf) looking on the verge of tears and gets a "confirmation" that Basil has indeed forgotten about their wedding anniversary by Basil himself, who is desperate for her to leave so that the guests do not find her well and out of bed. Back upstairs, Virginia remains worried about Sybil's condition and insists on examining her. In an attempt to keep her away, Polly lashes out and hits her in the face.
Finally, the guests all come back downstairs (many either bearing injuries from the visit or supporting someone suffering from one) and Basil is about to say goodbye to them. However, at that moment, Sybil, who forgot her golf clubs, returns. Both wife and partygoers are struck bewildered and confused as Basil introduces Sybil to them as the previously mentioned "northern" woman from the town. He locks Sybil in the kitchen, failing to notice Manuel and Terry wrestling furiously on the floor amidst the mess they have made, until the guests leave. With the guests gone and Polly returning from upstairs, Basil declares "Piece of cake. Now comes the tricky bit" and enters the kitchen to explain everything to Sybil.
was originally cast to play Roger. However disruption caused by a BBC strike delayed filming by a week and Holloway was replaced by Ken Campbell. The extra rehearsal time that was afforded due to the strike has led Cleese to list it as one of his favourite episodes.
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
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Synopsis
Basil pretends to have forgotten about Sybil's and his wedding anniversaryWedding anniversary
-Official recognition:In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that...
, having secretly arranged a cocktail party with their friends due to arrive any minute. However, Sybil becomes enraged with Basil as she believes that he has genuinely forgotten and walks out. As the guests arrive, Basil (aided by Polly) goes to extremes to cover up the fact that Sybil has left.
Cast
- John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as Basil FawltyBasil FawltyBasil Fawlty is the main character of the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. The character is often thought of as an iconic British comedy character, and has been deemed unforgettable despite only a dozen half-hour episodes ever being made.... - Prunella ScalesPrunella ScalesPrunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
as Sybil FawltySybil FawltySybil Fawlty is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. She is played by Prunella Scales. Her age is listed as 34 years old as seen on her medical chart in the 1975 episode "The Germans", thus presumably indicating that she was born in 1941... - Andrew SachsAndrew SachsAndrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
as ManuelManuel (Fawlty Towers)Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Played by Andrew Sachs, he is an iconic character in British comedy history... - Connie BoothConnie BoothConstance "Connie" Booth is an American-born writer and actress, known for appearances on British television and particularly for her portrayal of Polly Sherman in the popular 1970s television show Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese.-Biography:Booth's father was a...
as Polly Sherman - Ballard Berkeley as Major GowenMajor GowenMajor Gowen is a fictional character played by Ballard Berkeley in the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.Major Gowen is an old, befuddled, somewhat senile ex-soldier permanently residing in the hotel. He enjoys talking about the world and is always on the lookout for the newspaper. He has trouble forgiving...
- Brian HallBrian Hall (actor)Brian Charles Hall was an English actor perhaps best known for his role in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers where he played the hotel chef Terry.-Career:...
as Terry the Chef - Gilly FlowerGilly FlowerGilly Flower was an English actress, best remembered as the elderly Miss Abitha Tibbs in the cult BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.Gilly Flower played Miss Tibbs in all twelve episodes of the show, which was produced in two six-episode series separated by a three-and-a-half-year interval Gilly Flower...
as Miss Abitha TibbsMiss Tibbs & Miss GatsbyMiss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby are fictional characters, played by Gilly Flower and Renee Roberts respectively, in the BBC television sitcom Fawlty Towers.... - Renee Roberts as Miss Ursula GatsbyMiss Tibbs & Miss GatsbyMiss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby are fictional characters, played by Gilly Flower and Renee Roberts respectively, in the BBC television sitcom Fawlty Towers....
With:
- Denyse Alexander as Kitty
- Robert Arnold as Arthur
- Ken CampbellKen Campbell (actor)Kenneth Victor Campbell was an English writer, actor, director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre...
as Roger - Roger Hume as Reg
- Pat KeenPat KeenPat Keen is a retired British actress whose career on stage, television and film ran from the 1950s to the 2000s.She is best known for playing strident, bossy middle-aged women in British comedy throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such as the character 'Virginia' in the Fawlty Towers episode "The...
as Virginia - Christine Shaw as Audrey
- Una StubbsUna StubbsUna Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...
as Alice
Plot
On the morning of their wedding anniversary, Basil acts as though he has forgotten in order to surprise Sybil. He has actually made several arrangements for their anniversary by inviting three couples to a surprise party at the hotel and granting Manuel permission to cook a seafood paellaPaella
Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish...
from his mother's famous recipe, something he has wanted to do ever since arriving at Fawlty Towers.
Polly, meanwhile, is complaining to Terry that Basil won't give her an answer about some money she wants to borrow to buy a car. She asks Basil again and he evades her questioning.
After a confrontation between Sybil and Basil where he continues to pretend that he has absolutely no idea that it is their wedding anniversary, she storms out of the hotel. Basil initially fails to notice her leaving as he is trying to calm down a dispute erupting between Manuel and Terry, both of whom wish to cook the paella. Manuel alerts Basil that Sybil has gone.
Basil chases Sybil in order to get her to come back. However, by the time he gets outside she has already driven away and Basil is left standing in the hotel car park with his surprise guests about to arrive. As the first couple, meek Alice and her extremely annoying husband, Roger, arrive, he and Polly come up with the idea of saying that Sybil is ill and is therefore not able to attend the function. This comes back to bite Basil after another of Sybil's friends, Virginia, reminds Basil that she is a qualified nurse and becomes determined to diagnose Sybil's illness. The situation worsens when two of the guests, Kitty and Arthur, are sure they saw Sybil driving in the town, but he assures them that it was another "northern" woman who resembles her a lot. Manuel, meanwhile, complains to Basil that Terry is deliberately trying to sabotage the paella out of spite, but Basil merely tells him to handle it himself.
The made-up story of Sybil's illness gradually escalates as Basil describes what sound like horrific symptoms. He insists that the guests may not visit Sybil who is supposedly in bed upstairs. However, pressure builds on Basil when Virginia repeatedly expresses her desire to see Sybil in order to ascertain what she is suffering from. Polly then chimes in to tell Basil she think he ought to let them know, (he thinks she means tell them what has really happened) but then switches the whole story round and tells everyone the doctor has already been, and that Basil didn't tell them straight away because he didn't want to worry them. Basil says that it is serious (but not very serious, he informs them). He feigns concern and sadness to make it convincing.
Finally through pressure from the sceptical Roger ("They’ve had a row - she's refused to come down."), Basil tries reverse psychology: he informs the group that they may go up to see Sybil in bed: "I'll just pop upstairs and tell her to stop dying so that you can all come up and identify her." This naturally makes the guests feel very uncomfortable and reluctant, but Roger is not so dissuaded.
Basil now tries to force Polly to dress up as Sybil and get into her bed, in order to create the illusion that his wife is indeed incapacitated. He manhandles Polly into their room. Polly is at first very much against this idea, but after being promised by Basil that he will give her the money she needs for the car, she agrees to carry out the stunt. Manuel again complains about Terry's behavior, but Basil still refuses to intervene.
The guests are finally allowed in but because the lights are turned out, two of them trip and injure themselves. Basil opens the curtains to provide light, revealing Polly in Sybil's wig and sunglasses, tucked up in bed. The guests seem to believe that it is really Sybil. Meanwhile, Sybil returns to the hotel (to retrieve her golf clubs, as she and Audrey are about to go out to play some golf) looking on the verge of tears and gets a "confirmation" that Basil has indeed forgotten about their wedding anniversary by Basil himself, who is desperate for her to leave so that the guests do not find her well and out of bed. Back upstairs, Virginia remains worried about Sybil's condition and insists on examining her. In an attempt to keep her away, Polly lashes out and hits her in the face.
Finally, the guests all come back downstairs (many either bearing injuries from the visit or supporting someone suffering from one) and Basil is about to say goodbye to them. However, at that moment, Sybil, who forgot her golf clubs, returns. Both wife and partygoers are struck bewildered and confused as Basil introduces Sybil to them as the previously mentioned "northern" woman from the town. He locks Sybil in the kitchen, failing to notice Manuel and Terry wrestling furiously on the floor amidst the mess they have made, until the guests leave. With the guests gone and Polly returning from upstairs, Basil declares "Piece of cake. Now comes the tricky bit" and enters the kitchen to explain everything to Sybil.
Strike
Julian HollowayJulian Holloway
Julian Holloway is an English actor now based in Hollywood, CA, United States. He is the son of the comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane...
was originally cast to play Roger. However disruption caused by a BBC strike delayed filming by a week and Holloway was replaced by Ken Campbell. The extra rehearsal time that was afforded due to the strike has led Cleese to list it as one of his favourite episodes.