The Complete Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers was a great television show and this book delves into the show to an extent that even a moderate fan of the program will walk away wondering why there isn't more inovative programming available. If you're a FT fan you need this book. Plus it's a pretty good source for any trivia types interested in FT.

We got the book because we loved the dvds so well. The book has the exact wording, like a script of the episodes, but is not in the form of a screenplay. It's more in the form of a stageplay, minus stage direction. I guess this would be good if people have questions about the language or references in the dvd episodes, so they could look them up. I find I'd just rather watch the dvds.

In some ways I prefer reading the scripts to Monty Python's Flying Circus over watching the original TV series (e.g., your imagination does not have the severe budget limits of the show). But reading the scripts to Fawlty Towers, while a fun experience in itself, is not as good as watching the show. The show did have as good of a set as it needed, and the script loses something without getting to see the wonderful physical comedy of the Basil Fawlty and Manuel characters. I don't honestly know if I would find the book as funny without picturing John Cleese's expressions from various episodes from memory. As a result, while I give the book 5 stars for its side-splitting humour, I would still recommend getting the videos instead.

I'm a relatively new fan of Fawlty Towers, and I think it's the funniest comedy ever written! This book (in a relatively small tome) encompasses the relatively short series's episodes in script form.This also solves the problem of lines that we couldn't hear. Sometimes, when watching Fawlty Towers, one can't hear the actor say the line, or the laugh track drowns it out (or, very occasionally, Manuel says something weird). This book allows you to check out the lines.In addition to that, it's almost as funny on paper as it is on the screen! All it's missing is some way of accurately describing John Cleese's physical humor!

This book is almost better than watching the series, as it contains all the scripts--word-for-word. Now you can catch all those witty phrases Basil mumbled to his wife which were lost to those of us without a clear ear for British speech. Yes its all here, all the comedy, the frustration, the dead body, even the rat. If this goes out of print before you get one, you'll kick yourself for years.