Normally Basil Fawlty is someone you love to hate in Fawlty Towers, as he's arrogant, rude, snobbish and devious, but in Waldorf Salad you feel sorry for him.
The plot in Waldorf Salad concerns an American couple, the Hamiltons, who have the misfortune to choose Fawlty Towers for a weekend after a long drive on a " sidestreet called the M5". Unfortunately, Mr Hamilton believes he is still in America, not a seventies British hotel in Torquay, and decides to order a Waldorf salad. something which would be unknown at the time over here. Also his overbearing nature and moaning about Britain make him an unsympathetic character and you do feel sorry for Fawlty trying to please him.
True to form, though, Waldorf Salad descends into pure farce. Mr Hamilton is adamant that he will have a Waldorf Salad, even though Fawlty is clueless, and a hilarious scene develops where the chef has gone out and Fawlty pretends to berate the chef for not knowing how to make a Waldorf salad. Mr Hamilton, by then irate, storms into the kitchen and rumbles Fawlty.
Other scenes that stick in the memory are where a very hungry and furious Mr Hamilton gets all the guest together in the lobby and pays for them to get taxis, telling Fawlty his hotel is the worst in Europe, only for Major Gowan to say he stayed in a worse one in Eastbourne. Then Fawlty, deciding to hit back at his guests, refers to them as layabouts with nothing better to do and the sort of people who started the Third Reich and decides to force them to leave, yelling" raus, raus" at them. Only the intervention of Sybil stops Fawlty being lynched and Fawlty himself decides to announce he is leaving for good after 15 years.
On the whole, Waldorf Salad is one of the stronger Fawlty Towers episodes as you do feel rather sorry for him for once. He's clearly eager to please a wealthy American couple, snob that he is, but Mr Hamilton demands too much and comes across as loud and patronising, with a downer on Britain. Also keeping Manuel out of the way for most of the episode works well as I could imagine Mr Hamilton making the episode unpleasant and possibly racist for modern audiences.
9 out of 10 for Waldorf Salad from me as I don't think it's as hilarious as The Germans or The Pyschiatrist but better than The Anniversary and The Builders.
The plot in Waldorf Salad concerns an American couple, the Hamiltons, who have the misfortune to choose Fawlty Towers for a weekend after a long drive on a " sidestreet called the M5". Unfortunately, Mr Hamilton believes he is still in America, not a seventies British hotel in Torquay, and decides to order a Waldorf salad. something which would be unknown at the time over here. Also his overbearing nature and moaning about Britain make him an unsympathetic character and you do feel sorry for Fawlty trying to please him.
True to form, though, Waldorf Salad descends into pure farce. Mr Hamilton is adamant that he will have a Waldorf Salad, even though Fawlty is clueless, and a hilarious scene develops where the chef has gone out and Fawlty pretends to berate the chef for not knowing how to make a Waldorf salad. Mr Hamilton, by then irate, storms into the kitchen and rumbles Fawlty.
Other scenes that stick in the memory are where a very hungry and furious Mr Hamilton gets all the guest together in the lobby and pays for them to get taxis, telling Fawlty his hotel is the worst in Europe, only for Major Gowan to say he stayed in a worse one in Eastbourne. Then Fawlty, deciding to hit back at his guests, refers to them as layabouts with nothing better to do and the sort of people who started the Third Reich and decides to force them to leave, yelling" raus, raus" at them. Only the intervention of Sybil stops Fawlty being lynched and Fawlty himself decides to announce he is leaving for good after 15 years.
On the whole, Waldorf Salad is one of the stronger Fawlty Towers episodes as you do feel rather sorry for him for once. He's clearly eager to please a wealthy American couple, snob that he is, but Mr Hamilton demands too much and comes across as loud and patronising, with a downer on Britain. Also keeping Manuel out of the way for most of the episode works well as I could imagine Mr Hamilton making the episode unpleasant and possibly racist for modern audiences.
9 out of 10 for Waldorf Salad from me as I don't think it's as hilarious as The Germans or The Pyschiatrist but better than The Anniversary and The Builders.