Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers (1975)

48 mistakes in season 1 - chronological order

(6 votes)

The Germans - S1-E6

Audio problem: When Basil has lost the key to the fire alarm he decides to throw the typewriter at it. The typewriter sound hitting the (hidden) floor is a sort of scraping sound. Surely the typewriter would have crashed down or smashed.

The Germans - S1-E6

Deliberate mistake: When Basil asks Manuel to pull the hose on the fire extinguisher, the top of the hose falls off easily, resulting Basil to be squirted in the face. The bit where the hose is attached to squirts water out diagonally, but this would cause water not to go down the hose. This fire extinguisher was especially constructed to make sure the water was directed at Basil's face.

The Germans - S1-E6

Visible crew/equipment: When Basil runs from the restaurant and into the office, as the door opens to the hallway you can see a monitor in the office, showing what we can see. The director must be watching the action from in there.

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Suggested correction: Most places like this are likely to have CCTV and the office would be the optimum place for the manager to watch on the monitor.

CCTV was very uncommon in 1975. It wasn't until the late 80s it became more popular and even then it was of poor quality. Not like what is in the mistake.

Ssiscool

The Germans - S1-E6

Character mistake: When the first German guest enters reception, he asks Polly, in German, if she would tell him what time lunch is served. She replies in German "at 9am, in five minutes." Which would be a strange time to be serving lunch! Actually her pronunciation of "9" sounds more like the German word for "no", so could be mistaken for "at no time. In 5 minutes."

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Suggested correction: He asks what time lunch is being served. Lunch would not be served at 9am, it would be served around midday. Polly's response is "In no time. In 5 minutes" is absolutely correct. She does say "nein", not "neun" but it is not a mistake.

The Germans - S1-E6

Continuity mistake: When Basil is being pursued by the doctor, the left antler on the moose's head on the wall is broken. When the head lands on Manuel, the antler is not broken or limp any longer, and when the Major wraps the head on the snout, the antler breaks and goes limp again.

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Waldorf Salad - S2-E3

Question: Basil asks the American male guest (Mr Hamilton) if they have palm trees in California. The American replies that, "They say Burt Lancaster has one, but I don't believe them." The DVD then appears to cut prematurely to the next scene. Is there a hidden or subliminal joke here that I'm missing?

Answer: A possible explanation can be found here: http://tviv.org/Fawlty_Towers/Waldorf_Salad Quote: "This is, of course, sarcasm, as southern California in general and Los Angeles in particular is famous for its palm trees".

Mortug

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