Aw dude you cut out my favourite part, “well what do you expect to see out of a Torquay window? the Sydney opera house perhaps or the hanging towers of Babylon millions of wildebeest running majestically across the plains.” Absolutely magnificent sarcasm. 😂👍
Not just my favourite episode of the series, my favourite sitcom episode ever. So many quotable lines, the stories all build and combine for a great finale, great cast and great writing. The pinacle of comedy in my opinion.
@@fhh5257 Not as ridiculous as replying to every single similar comment with a near identical spiel. Please bother other people with your negativity, not myself.
@@fhh5257 WHAT??? It's arguably the most sublime sitcom episode ever written Only someone transuranically dense could be incapable of appreciating such comedy
The germans episode is my favourite.when fhe germans are sat down in a small english hotel ordering food and arguing about who started the war......i meant argument
That is the one and only Joan Sanderson. She made a career playing old battleaxes. In All Gas and Gaiters, a lovely comedy about a Bishop and his clerical staff she was Mrs Pugh-Critchley the terrifying wife of the Dean. Then in Please Sir!, her star role she was a terribly formidable teacher Miss Ewell. After this she had a role as John Cleese's wife in the Great Muppet Caper. And a radio and TV sitcom about a widow staring Prunella Scales, she played her domineering mother, who lived in the her Granny Flat. She sadly died way back in 1992. She only broke into television in her mid fifties, she was just born for these roles, it's hard to imagine her young.
Yeah haha, and he reacted just as the character would have reacted. Real pro. But I remember hearing John Cleese say that the actor was quite like the character he played anyway!
I think you're starting to see why this series is so highly rated. This episode is the epitome of all that's most brilliant about it. By the second series everybody knew their characters inside out & the teamwork is fabulous. I don't believe in "the best" anything, but I can't imagine anything better than this. Any funnier & I'd likely have a stroke or heart attack or something. And I do love your reactions - so genuine & so emotionally perceptive.
I must have watched that episode, over the years, a minimum of 10 times, and watching it again own, tears if laughter still streaming down my face 😂. We get stacks of British TV here in Australia, their comedy is brilliant 👍. Think I’ll watch another dose of The Four Yorkshire Men 😂😂
I remember watching this episode for the first time as a kid, was probably only about 8 or 9 and that line destroyed me, I was seriously fighting for breath I was laughing so hard.
I have the fortunate coincidence of having the same birthday as John Cleese, 27 October and with us both being Scorpios, I have found myself with a very similar vicious sarcasm streak, getting me into trouble frequently. But, I have actually used the "Is this a piece of your brain?" line against my mother in law, who I cannot get along with. Much to the dismay of my wonderful wife.
My favorite scene was when Mrs Richards finally realized where her glasses were. "They were on my head the whole time. Didn't you see?" "Yes!" "Didn't God give you eyes?" "Yes, but I don't use them cause it wears the batteries down." :)
It's there if you look for it. It's only logical that when there is more choice that there will be more subpar stuff around as well. I suggest checking out "Norsemen" (it's on Netflix) for example...
Cleese himself has said that no more than 10% of the first draft he and Connie (Polly) wrote ever survived into the shooting script, and they spent 4 to 6 weeks on each script. They were shooting roughly double the number of pages of a typical sitcom of the same length.
Joan Sanderson played a similar character in 'Please Sir' a brilliant 70s TV series and Feature film of the series, she played a battle axe of a teacher called miss Yule
The line that went over your head, "the Samaritans were engaged" samaritans are a charity in the UK. You can call them when you're in despair or suicidal and they listen to you like a shrink.
Joan Sanderson, great actress, who also played opposite John Cleese in The Great Muppet Caper. Fantastic reaction to my favourite episode! The way the strands all come together in the end and to see the lies unravel is perfection 👍🏻
I can remember seeing that episode for the first time when I was a teenager - and genuinely rolling around on the floor weeping with laughter - one of the best-scripted comedy episodes of all time!
What did you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically...
Joan Sanderson was a brilliant comic actress and that Mrs Richards character is the type she played best. Those of us from a certain vintage remember her best as Miss Ewell in Please Sir from the early 1970s. She was also in one of the Muppet movies, but I can't remember which one.
This is probably my favourite episode of Fawlty towers. The actor that plays Mrs. Richards is perfect in the role. So many funny twists and turns in the script.
Just loved your reaction and laughter. The lady was Joan Sanderson who died in 1992. She was also known for her role in a sit com called Please Sir but was also a classical actress too.
I've watched this episode since I was a child in the 70's. The scene in the office where Basil is talking to himself becomes truer with every passing decade: "Zhoom! What was that? That was your life, mate! Oh, that was quick, do I get another? Sorry mate, that's your lot."
Looove this episode, love it love it love it. One of the top 3 fav sit com episodes ever for me. When Basil is trying to make the Major remember is such a gold moment, the frustration, the pure frustration Basil have in this episode is..its great
This is my favourite episode of the show. Loved your reaction. "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky" is one of my favourite lines. I'm still waiting for an opportunity to use "Is this a piece of your brain?"
Prunella Scales played Sybil his wife and Connie Booth was his real wife at the time and I think she was a co-writer for the show. Joan Saunderson played the old lady.
You missed out my favourite bit after she says the view of Torquay from her window isn't good enough. Basil hits back "Well what did you expect to see from a hotel window in Torquay? Krakatoa erupting... herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically over the plain?.." 🤣
This is my favourite episode I reckon. Watched this with my Dad when I was 7 or 8, and it was probably the first time we both found the same programme hilarious. ...My Dad was 6ft 7, bald and had a moustache (what are the chances), but thankfully he was considerably more patient than Basil.
It's ridiculous to go out of one's way to call this one's favourite episode, let alone a whole row of comments coming out of the bushes for this. It's a pretty ordinary episode, and not "ordinary" in any special (or really unique) way either. (Just in case one tries that direction...). And the episodes are all strong, so this implies some dismissiveness about many really good ones, which makes these comments weirder and weirder...
How on earth Joan Sanderson got through this without the slightest upturn of the corners of her mouth I can not imagine. I just hope she had a jolly good laugh when she saw the show later.
Just a perfect episode. It's so well constructed and everything comes together beautifully at the end. And I have to say that Prunella Scales in that black satin skirt does things to me!
@@CosmicAeon i always think most people just remember the flying circus "funny walk" at the end, which I always thought was a bit of a cheap laugh for such a well written show. The structure of this episode is magnificent, it just builds and builds throughout.
My Saturday morning routine is watching your new uploads, my son absolutely loves your laugh and because of that he comes into the kitchen and watches it with me! And, because of this, he’s loving the humour which I grew up with! I thank you for that! Keep it coming 👍🏻
Great Reaction and you are right as the other Reactor I saw was so annoyed at her that he had to keep on reminding himself that she was acting, as well as you Josh :)
Wow, you loved this one Josh!! Great reaction!! Definitely one of my favourite Fawlty Towers episodes and looking forward to the rest of the season because this one is better than the first I think.
I love your reactions but you did miss out one of my fav lines of the episode “well what do you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney opera house perhaps? The hanging gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically…”. Keep up the good work!
The success of Fawlty Towers is in its writing...... i mean apparently Basil & Polly :)....spent 6 weeks writing each episode, so they had time to really fine tune the script for optimum result. In fact as the show was so well written, many people can recite huge chunks of the screenplay from memory of the series.
Loved this reaction so much! Absolute classic episode that I've seen hundreds of times since being a kid and it's fantastic to see someone watch it for the first time and enjoy it so much :-)
The actress playing Mrs Richards is Joan Sanderson. She and John Cleese played an upper middle class couple in an hilarious sequence in The Great Muppet Caper. Well worth a watch.
Fantastic. The whole of the 2nd series is brilliant. Personal favourite is The kipper and The corpse. Love how you like old English comedies. Dads army is good, and Steptoe and Son.
The actress who played Mrs. Richards was the late Joan Sanderson. Fantastic British character actress. Apparently a really lovely person not at all like the dragons she played!
“I know nothing” - along with “The story of the Old Empty Barn - well - there was nothing in it” from Dad’s Army and “Don’t tell him Pike” - “Pike, Thank you”, also from Dad’s Army, is for me the funniest line ever in comedy. I must have heard it literally many thousands of times by now but it never gets any less funny, and it never will.
The way he looks so proud of himself while he says it kills me every time. Like he's finally got something right, and he won't be fooled into disobeying his orders. Magnificent. My family quote it often too, glad that we're not the only weirdos.
Joan Sanderson was also in the itv series” me and my girl” in the eighties, gentle comedy also starring the legendary Richard O’Sullivan and Tim Brooke Taylor. All episodes on you tube.
Thanks josh watched full ep on daily and shared alot of much needed laughs and im defo going to check on that ladys performance as it was amazing great comedy timeing and expression
What makes this episode so genius is perfectly encapsulated by the title ‘communication problems’: throughout the entire episode characters consistently fail to make themselves understood in every different way, from the deaf guest to Manuel, to the major, to the charades sequence with Polly, every scene is a different approach to the same theme of an inability to get through to somebody. It’s also fascinating watching this now seeing how the fact they don’t pause for laughter and just keep going (a revolutionary thing at the time) allows for the evolution of an entirely new style of comedy. None of these scenes could work if they were pausing after every joke like most sitcoms were at the time.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one. It's always been a favourite of mine, so damn funny. Mrs Richards is the worst (brilliantly played by Joan Sanderson). The charades part is too funny. Basil flapping his arms Polly: "Fly?" Basil pointing at Sybil Polly: "Flying tart?" Gets me every time 🤣😂🤣
My favourite episode this one. The scene where she was complaining about the view from her window we always reenact when we go to Torquay pretty much every year. Devon is beautiful. How anyone can be grumpy living there is beyond me lol
I'm friends with 'Mrs Richards' (Joan Sanderson) nephew. Apparently she couldn't be further from her Fawlty Towers character's persona, and was a stalwart on the british screen for decades. BTW, Best Episode Ever!!!
The Germans is probably the most famous Fawlty Towers episode, but Communication Problems has always been my favourite. It's the beautiful work of Joan Sanderson as the most obnoxious guest, coupled with two of John's best scenes, the 'what do you expect to see out of a Torquay window' sequence and the almost sadistic scene in the office with Mrs Richards' hearing aid. When I was a kid, "Is this a piece of your brain?" made me spit take and I got in trouble for it. But I couldn't help it!
I absolutely love your reactions to these comedy gems fella. You really do appreciate our British comedy greats. Keep them coming they're so funny to watch! All the best from the UK Midlands and keep those laughs going!! 👍👍
Totally on Basil side in this episode, I work in retail and this episode is all the levels of frustration when dealing with a customer who is not satisfied about the tinest little details.
Perhaps one of the finest episodes of comedy ever written and performed. Awesome performance from Joan Sanderson, a superb actress. To see how good this is, watch the American remake: "Stavely"; so bad it should be outlawed!
The old lady was a very well recognised actress of her time called Joan Sanderson. She specialised in playing bad tempered old women! She died in 1992.
Everyone says the Germans episode is the best FT but they are wrong, it’s this one. Magnificent writing and terrific performances from everyone involved. It’s perfect.
Love all the really subtle jokes in the episode where Mrs Richards thinks Basil is called what 😂 I’d watched this episode so many times before I realised
The humour will LINGER in your mind, you will re-watch the episodes over and over, and memorise the lines, and the jokes will haunt you for decades.
Aw dude you cut out my favourite part, “well what do you expect to see out of a Torquay window? the Sydney opera house perhaps or the hanging towers of Babylon millions of wildebeest running majestically across the plains.” Absolutely magnificent sarcasm. 😂👍
"I expect a reduction."
"Why, because Krakatau isn't exploding at the moment?" loved that line as well.
Think he only said wildebeest running majestically across the...and left it hanging there.
@@jamesbuckingham.2935 Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically .....
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome Yes. One of the most misquoted phrases ever.
Yes, ‘herds of Wilderbeast’… need the whole bedroom scene.
Not just my favourite episode of the series, my favourite sitcom episode ever. So many quotable lines, the stories all build and combine for a great finale, great cast and great writing. The pinacle of comedy in my opinion.
It's ridiculous to go out of one's way to call this one's "favourite episode". It is a pretty ordinary episode.
@@fhh5257 Not as ridiculous as replying to every single similar comment with a near identical spiel. Please bother other people with your negativity, not myself.
@@fhh5257 WHAT??? It's arguably the most sublime sitcom episode ever written
Only someone transuranically dense could be incapable of appreciating such comedy
Always my favorite, too.
@@fhh5257 It's sublime. It's probably my fave FT episode too!
The old lady was joan Sanderson. She passed away in 1992.
"I know nothing"- After all of Manuel's issues with English, I love that line so so much.
I use it quite often, and only certain people get it
You can tell he’s been rehearsing - it almost comes out like Shakespeare and he’s so proud of himself!
The germans episode is my favourite.when fhe germans are sat down in a small english hotel ordering food and arguing about who started the war......i meant argument
Mine too.Especially the little clear of the throat to prepare himself.😅
Eventually !!
That is the one and only Joan Sanderson. She made a career playing old battleaxes. In All Gas and Gaiters, a lovely comedy about a Bishop and his clerical staff she was Mrs Pugh-Critchley the terrifying wife of the Dean. Then in Please Sir!, her star role she was a terribly formidable teacher Miss Ewell. After this she had a role as John Cleese's wife in the Great Muppet Caper. And a radio and TV sitcom about a widow staring Prunella Scales, she played her domineering mother, who lived in the her Granny Flat. She sadly died way back in 1992. She only broke into television in her mid fifties, she was just born for these roles, it's hard to imagine her young.
Probably the funniest episode of any comedy - have watched it so many times 😅
"I know noooothiiing" has passed into legend here in the UK. People use it all the time - especially when asked something in the workplace.
Or in special circumstances, “I am from Barcelona!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The old woman was Joan Sanderson, she died in 1992, she always played bossy old posh women, she didn't mind though, she was in lots of TV comedies.
Thanks for the info bud!
Joan Sanderson played Mrs richards brilliantly a legend she went on to star with prunella scales in after Henry !
She also played John Cleese's wife in one of the Muppet films.
I love Joan Sanderson - she was brilliant as the battle-axe teacher in Please, Sir!
She was bloody tall too. Well over 6 feet, see how she is almost as tall as John Cleese.
After Henry is a criminally underrated sitcom.
When Sybil threw the tea over Basil, most of it ended up covering the Major. 😂
Yeah haha, and he reacted just as the character would have reacted. Real pro. But I remember hearing John Cleese say that the actor was quite like the character he played anyway!
To make it more evident, he should have had a cream jacket on, I bet plenty of viewers missed it
I think you're starting to see why this series is so highly rated. This episode is the epitome of all that's most brilliant about it. By the second series everybody knew their characters inside out & the teamwork is fabulous.
I don't believe in "the best" anything, but I can't imagine anything better than this. Any funnier & I'd likely have a stroke or heart attack or something. And I do love your reactions - so genuine & so emotionally perceptive.
When it comes to laughter the hysterical kind this episode really has to be up there not just among Fawlty towers episodes but of any comedy
I must have watched that episode, over the years, a minimum of 10 times, and watching it again own, tears if laughter still streaming down my face 😂. We get stacks of British TV here in Australia, their comedy is brilliant 👍.
Think I’ll watch another dose of The Four Yorkshire Men 😂😂
joan sanderson played a teacher in a sitcom called please sir brilliant actress big up from england
Thanks man!
She was also in 'After Henry ' with Prunella Scales(Sybil) playing her daughter. It wasn't that funny on ITV in the Eighties.
"Is this a piece of your brain?" 😂 Great line
LOL That was hilarious =]
I remember watching this episode for the first time as a kid, was probably only about 8 or 9 and that line destroyed me, I was seriously fighting for breath I was laughing so hard.
I have the fortunate coincidence of having the same birthday as John Cleese, 27 October and with us both being Scorpios, I have found myself with a very similar vicious sarcasm streak, getting me into trouble frequently. But, I have actually used the "Is this a piece of your brain?" line against my mother in law, who I cannot get along with. Much to the dismay of my wonderful wife.
My favorite scene was when Mrs Richards finally realized where her glasses were. "They were on my head the whole time. Didn't you see?" "Yes!" "Didn't God give you eyes?" "Yes, but I don't use them cause it wears the batteries down." :)
Genius script writing, something that's sorely missed these days
It's there if you look for it. It's only logical that when there is more choice that there will be more subpar stuff around as well. I suggest checking out "Norsemen" (it's on Netflix) for example...
@@wickedymike I love that show! So droll
Loads great stuff out there
Cleese himself has said that no more than 10% of the first draft he and Connie (Polly) wrote ever survived into the shooting script, and they spent 4 to 6 weeks on each script. They were shooting roughly double the number of pages of a typical sitcom of the same length.
Joan Sanderson played a similar character in 'Please Sir' a brilliant 70s TV series and Feature film of the series, she played a battle axe of a teacher called miss Yule
The line that went over your head, "the Samaritans were engaged" samaritans are a charity in the UK. You can call them when you're in despair or suicidal and they listen to you like a shrink.
Thanks man.
Samaritans are good.
@@tempsitch5632 At least one of them anyway
Joan Sanderson, great actress, who also played opposite John Cleese in The Great Muppet Caper. Fantastic reaction to my favourite episode! The way the strands all come together in the end and to see the lies unravel is perfection 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it!
Can you imagine how much joy and laughter John Cleese and others included the show have given to the world : )
I can remember seeing that episode for the first time when I was a teenager - and genuinely rolling around on the floor weeping with laughter - one of the best-scripted comedy episodes of all time!
Genius episode. That lady pure acting.
The old lady was Joan Sanderson, she was in another series called please sir.
What did you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically...
Joan Sanderson was a brilliant comic actress and that Mrs Richards character is the type she played best. Those of us from a certain vintage remember her best as Miss Ewell in Please Sir from the early 1970s. She was also in one of the Muppet movies, but I can't remember which one.
And with Prunella Scales in After Henry.
The Great Muppet Caper.
My favourite bit is where he just starts mouthing the words and gets her to turn up her hearing aid.
LOL that was great!
Is this a piece of your brain? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m glad he laughs at the ‘you heard that alright didn’t you’ line. It’s a good, simple, funny underrated line that’s classic Basil.
This is probably my favourite episode of Fawlty towers. The actor that plays Mrs. Richards is perfect in the role. So many funny twists and turns in the script.
Just loved your reaction and laughter. The lady was Joan Sanderson who died in 1992. She was also known for her role in a sit com called Please Sir but was also a classical actress too.
I've watched this episode since I was a child in the 70's. The scene in the office where Basil is talking to himself becomes truer with every passing decade: "Zhoom! What was that? That was your life, mate! Oh, that was quick, do I get another? Sorry mate, that's your lot."
Sybil: If you did bet money on that horse, you know what I’ll do to you, don’t you.
Basil: Well, you’d have to sew them back on first.
😆
"...sow THEM back on first"
Looove this episode, love it love it love it. One of the top 3 fav sit com episodes ever for me. When Basil is trying to make the Major remember is such a gold moment, the frustration, the pure frustration Basil have in this episode is..its great
This is my favourite episode of the show. Loved your reaction. "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky" is one of my favourite lines. I'm still waiting for an opportunity to use "Is this a piece of your brain?"
Prunella Scales played Sybil his wife and Connie Booth was his real wife at the time and I think she was a co-writer for the show. Joan Saunderson played the old lady.
Apparently they were actually in the middle of a divorce when they were filming fawlty towers . Bet that was interesting 🤣
You missed out my favourite bit after she says the view of Torquay from her window isn't good enough. Basil hits back "Well what did you expect to see from a hotel window in Torquay? Krakatoa erupting... herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically over the plain?.." 🤣
I was looking forward to hearing that line again too - absolutely brilliant.
The hanging gardens of Babylon!
You should have kept lhe entire conversation in the bedroom, it's the funniest scene in the entire episode.
Samaritans is a charity people phone in the UK that provides support to anyone in emotional distress, or at risk of suicide.
Ok thanks for the info bud!
This is my favourite episode I reckon. Watched this with my Dad when I was 7 or 8, and it was probably the first time we both found the same programme hilarious. ...My Dad was 6ft 7, bald and had a moustache (what are the chances), but thankfully he was considerably more patient than Basil.
My favourite too... Along with kipper and the corpse
@@ringostarr8034 Yes! That was my favourite actually, until I got less angry about Mrs Richards.
It's ridiculous to go out of one's way to call this one's favourite episode, let alone a whole row of comments coming out of the bushes for this. It's a pretty ordinary episode, and not "ordinary" in any special (or really unique) way either. (Just in case one tries that direction...). And the episodes are all strong, so this implies some dismissiveness about many really good ones, which makes these comments weirder and weirder...
How on earth Joan Sanderson got through this without the slightest upturn of the corners of her mouth I can not imagine. I just hope she had a jolly good laugh when she saw the show later.
This episode is really really funny. Joan Sanderson as the deaf lady is brilliant. She died 1992 aged 79
Just a perfect episode. It's so well constructed and everything comes together beautifully at the end. And I have to say that Prunella Scales in that black satin skirt does things to me!
What sheer filth! Lol.
My favourite episode of the show.
Yup the germans episode gets a lot of the attention, and it is a great episode, but this is always my favourite one.
@@CosmicAeon i always think most people just remember the flying circus "funny walk" at the end, which I always thought was a bit of a cheap laugh for such a well written show. The structure of this episode is magnificent, it just builds and builds throughout.
(not that "the Germans" is bad, I just mean it's has that memorable moment so its what people bring up most.)
100% agree
Whenever I hear fawlty towers mentioned I think of the Mrs Richards episode, says it all. So fuckin funny
My Saturday morning routine is watching your new uploads, my son absolutely loves your laugh and because of that he comes into the kitchen and watches it with me! And, because of this, he’s loving the humour which I grew up with! I thank you for that! Keep it coming 👍🏻
That is awesome! Thank you for sharing. Take care and have a great one!
Great Reaction and you are right as the other Reactor I saw was so annoyed at her that he had to keep on reminding himself that she was acting, as well as you Josh :)
Wow, you loved this one Josh!! Great reaction!! Definitely one of my favourite Fawlty Towers episodes and looking forward to the rest of the season because this one is better than the first I think.
One of my favourite lines from this one is..
"Do you by chance have a hearing aid?"
"Yes of course!"
"Would you like me to get it mended?" 😂🤣
I love your reactions but you did miss out one of my fav lines of the episode “well what do you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney opera house perhaps? The hanging gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically…”. Keep up the good work!
The best piece of TV ever
Great reaction, really enjoyed watching you enjoy it 😂
I know this episode, word for word. Back in the 70’s my Dad had this on Vinyl L.P. Before the days of V.H.S. My favourite Flowery Twats epsidode
Surely, Farty Towels....?🙄
@@vilebrequin6923 watery owls.
Been waiting on your reaction to this, hope you enjoy 👌
The success of Fawlty Towers is in its writing...... i mean apparently Basil & Polly :)....spent 6 weeks writing each episode, so they had time to really fine tune the script for optimum result. In fact as the show was so well written, many people can recite huge chunks of the screenplay from memory of the series.
Loved this reaction so much! Absolute classic episode that I've seen hundreds of times since being a kid and it's fantastic to see someone watch it for the first time and enjoy it so much :-)
The health inspector episode is another good one. 👍
The actress playing Mrs Richards is Joan Sanderson. She and John Cleese played an upper middle class couple in an hilarious sequence in The Great Muppet Caper. Well worth a watch.
Wait until you get to the last episode, Basil the Rat.
You should react to a British show called dad's army. That's another classic comedy
oh man this is THE episode
Fantastic. The whole of the 2nd series is brilliant. Personal favourite is The kipper and The corpse. Love how you like old English comedies. Dads army is good, and Steptoe and Son.
One of the funniest episodes from the best comedy ever written.
Suggest you watch Only Fools and Horses episode called Time On Our Hands
Many years ago, when my GP syringed my ears, he looked down at the lump of wax, saying; "Is this a piece of your brain?" X
The actress who played Mrs. Richards was the late Joan Sanderson. Fantastic British character actress. Apparently a really lovely person not at all like the dragons she played!
“I know nothing” - along with “The story of the Old Empty Barn - well - there was nothing in it” from Dad’s Army and “Don’t tell him Pike” - “Pike, Thank you”, also from Dad’s Army, is for me the funniest line ever in comedy. I must have heard it literally many thousands of times by now but it never gets any less funny, and it never will.
"I know nooothing" has been a regular quote in my family since before I can remember. So many quotes from this show has in fact. Classic!
The way he looks so proud of himself while he says it kills me every time. Like he's finally got something right, and he won't be fooled into disobeying his orders. Magnificent. My family quote it often too, glad that we're not the only weirdos.
The one I quote is Basil's "This is mine", and the way he says it. :D
Nobody gets it, of course. :( :p
Love your reactions to our old comedies Josh
Joan Sanderson was also in the itv series” me and my girl” in the eighties, gentle comedy also starring the legendary Richard O’Sullivan and Tim Brooke Taylor. All episodes on you tube.
I agree with you, the old lady was awesome.
I love your channel and love Fawlty Towers. Brilliant episode lol xx
"I know nothing"
Became a workplace thing when your boss asks you stuff.
Still in use today ☺️
True!
“Not a word to the Dragon”😉
Thanks josh watched full ep on daily and shared alot of much needed laughs and im defo going to check on that ladys performance as it was amazing great comedy timeing and expression
Mrs Richards: "You call that a bath? It's not big enough to drown a mouse"
Basil: "I wish you were a mouse, I'd show you"
What makes this episode so genius is perfectly encapsulated by the title ‘communication problems’: throughout the entire episode characters consistently fail to make themselves understood in every different way, from the deaf guest to Manuel, to the major, to the charades sequence with Polly, every scene is a different approach to the same theme of an inability to get through to somebody.
It’s also fascinating watching this now seeing how the fact they don’t pause for laughter and just keep going (a revolutionary thing at the time) allows for the evolution of an entirely new style of comedy. None of these scenes could work if they were pausing after every joke like most sitcoms were at the time.
The sharade bit where he points at his 'junk' is because in the U.K. the zip on the trousers is called a fly, second part of the horses name.
Fantastic still laughing 😂👍
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one. It's always been a favourite of mine, so damn funny. Mrs Richards is the worst (brilliantly played by Joan Sanderson). The charades part is too funny.
Basil flapping his arms
Polly: "Fly?"
Basil pointing at Sybil
Polly: "Flying tart?"
Gets me every time 🤣😂🤣
Thanks bud, this episode was hilarious I loved it!
Yes and also referring to Sybil=FISHWIFE :)
My favourite episode this one. The scene where she was complaining about the view from her window we always reenact when we go to Torquay pretty much every year. Devon is beautiful. How anyone can be grumpy living there is beyond me lol
I grew up there and people always find a way to moan let me tell you 😂 This is my favourite episode too I think
I live in and love Torquay !!
@@debnbhuy Torquay is beautiful. My favourite place as well as Dawlish
When I first saw this episode I was convinced that it was the funniest half hour of TV I'd ever seen. My opinion has not changed. Great reaction!
Is this a piece of your brain? Love it. Great to see you're loving it like we all do
Funniest sitcom comedy ever
I'm friends with 'Mrs Richards' (Joan Sanderson) nephew. Apparently she couldn't be further from her Fawlty Towers character's persona, and was a stalwart on the british screen for decades.
BTW, Best Episode Ever!!!
The Germans is probably the most famous Fawlty Towers episode, but Communication Problems has always been my favourite. It's the beautiful work of Joan Sanderson as the most obnoxious guest, coupled with two of John's best scenes, the 'what do you expect to see out of a Torquay window' sequence and the almost sadistic scene in the office with Mrs Richards' hearing aid. When I was a kid, "Is this a piece of your brain?" made me spit take and I got in trouble for it. But I couldn't help it!
I absolutely love your reactions to these comedy gems fella. You really do appreciate our British comedy greats. Keep them coming they're so funny to watch! All the best from the UK Midlands and keep those laughs going!! 👍👍
Would be good to see you reacting to Steptoe and Son which in its day was the most watched comedy of the 1970s in the U.K. 👍👍👍
Oh, this is an absolute classic. So many iconic lines.
09:47 "Wish he would go to sea; no flippin' use on land." - Sid James
Genius. Basil is constantly stressed and sarcastic and the world seems so against him constantly. Every episode is the world versus Basil.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
For a 50+ year old show to still make us all laugh so much shows the brilliance of it all.
Agreed man this show is awesome =]
@@AfterWorkReactions you'll enjoy the next episode to
😁 Ive nust watched it again as they are repeating it on the bbc
It's not that old. S1 was shown in 75, s2 in 79.
Totally on Basil side in this episode, I work in retail and this episode is all the levels of frustration when dealing with a customer who is not satisfied about the tinest little details.
Truth. Basil is actually quite reasonable in this one. It makes one sympathize with him even more for all the trouble he's put through.
John Cleese was married to the actress who played Polly.
This is the best episode I think! "I'll give her a fight alright" comes up in daily conversation a lot 😀
Perhaps one of the finest episodes of comedy ever written and performed. Awesome performance from Joan Sanderson, a superb actress. To see how good this is, watch the American remake: "Stavely"; so bad it should be outlawed!
The old lady was a very well recognised actress of her time called Joan Sanderson. She specialised in playing bad tempered old women! She died in 1992.
Fantastic show and great reaction. Newish sub and love it. Well done Sir.
Thanks bud I appreciate that!
Everyone says the Germans episode is the best FT but they are wrong, it’s this one. Magnificent writing and terrific performances from everyone involved. It’s perfect.
Love all the really subtle jokes in the episode where Mrs Richards thinks Basil is called what 😂 I’d watched this episode so many times before I realised
Really glad you enjoyed that. A classic.
Your laugh is the vest.
The genius of this series was brilliant writing coupled with excellent casting.
Series 2 really builds up the manic situations much more than the first. They’re much more cohesive from start to finish.