Ep 5. Gourmet Night

Basil Fawlty, the hapless and high-strung owner of Fawlty Towers, has big plans for a gourmet evening at his hotel. In this memorable episode, chaos ensues as Basil and his staff struggle to pull off an elegant feast for a group of discerning food critics.

As the preparations begin, it quickly becomes apparent that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The hotel's chef, Terry, is completely unprepared for the complex menu that Basil has planned and can't even manage to boil an egg. Meanwhile, the kitchen is seriously understaffed, with only Polly and Manuel on hand to help Terry.

Basil, desperate to impress the critics, decides to take matters into his own hands and attempts to help out in the kitchen. As anyone who has watched this show knows, this is a recipe for disaster. Basil's haphazard attempts to cook only make things worse, as he bungles his way through the kitchen, setting off alarms and almost burning the place down.

Despite all of this chaos, Basil refuses to admit defeat. He's determined to make the evening a success, even if it means bending over backwards to accommodate the eccentric demands of his guests. One of the highlights of this episode is the arrival of the snooty food critic, Lord Melbury, who is treated like royalty by Basil despite his arrogant and entitled behavior.

As the night wears on, things go from bad to worse. The food is inedible, the wine is terrible, and the guests are getting increasingly exasperated with the chaos that surrounds them. In a hilarious scene, Basil attempts to fix a broken door in the dining room by kicking it shut, only to have it collapse on him.

Through it all, the one bright spot is Manuel, the hapless Spanish waiter who steals every scene he's in. Despite his limited grasp of English, Manuel manages to charm the guests and even saves the day by serving up a memorable dish of ratatouille (or, as Basil calls it, "ratatatty").

As the episode draws to a close, the critics finally depart, thoroughly unimpressed with their evening at Fawlty Towers. Basil, of course, is devastated, but his wife Sybil manages to cheer him up with a sarcastic comment that perfectly sums up the entire experience: "Well done, Basil. That was brilliant. You managed to keep them all here until after the pubs closed." It's a fitting end to yet another classic episode of one of the funniest shows ever made.