The Kipper and the Corpse
- Episode aired Mar 12, 1979
- TV-PG
- 32m
IMDb RATING
9.0/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
One of the guests has died in his sleep, but Basil thinks it's due to serving him spoiled food.One of the guests has died in his sleep, but Basil thinks it's due to serving him spoiled food.One of the guests has died in his sleep, but Basil thinks it's due to serving him spoiled food.
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Did you know
- TriviaMr. Ingrams, one of the guests, was named after the television reviewer for "The Spectator", Richard Ingrams, who was an early critic of the show when it began in 1975. Ingrams' appraisal was quite caustic. John Cleese got his revenge in this episode when Mr Ingrams was found in his room with a blow-up doll.
- GoofsAs the closing credits start to roll, and the laundry van is driving away, the sign over the gate shows the real name of the location, "Wooburn Grange Country Club", in reverse.
- Crazy creditsThe Fawlty Towers sign has been re-arranged to spell Fatty Owls ("WER" letters are missing).
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 70s: Goodbye Great Britain, 75-77 (2012)
Featured review
All About Sausages
Fawlty Towers was notorious for rotten customer service, and this episode is a dissertation on it. It complements "Waldorf Salad" and "Basil the Rat" (the final episode) quite well - this time, dead bodies with a subplot involving ill-prepared kippers (and sausages) are brought into the mix. A group of executives drop off Mr. Leeman at the hotel - he dies during the night, but the hotel staff think it's a result of food poisoning of that morning's breakfast. Painstaking efforts are made by Basil, Manuel, and Polly to hide the body - carting the corpse up and down stairs, eventually depositing it first in one of the closets in a guest room and then in the kitchen. As Andrew Sachs has mentioned, they cast the Leeman character with a small man (Derek Royle) so as to make all the hauling a bit easier. The supporting cast in this one are especially good (Geoffrey Palmer as the snobby sausage-loving Dr. Price, and Mavis Pugh as Mrs. Chase, owner of the sausage-loving shi-tzu dog). Gilly Flower, who plays Ms. Tibbs, got a fairly big part in this episode after many episodes with one and two-liners, and she did it very well.
This is the episode with the well-known 'Basil pokes Manuel in the eye' scene and a bit where Basil walks in on a guest preparing to have his way with an inflatable sex doll. By episode's end, it seems like just about everyone has 'had it' with the lousy hotel - even Manuel belts out a firm, "Meeester Fawlty, I no wan' to work here anymore! I on strike!" But in the end, Basil is the one who gets the respite and once again, leaves Sybil to solve the day's problems. Personally, I think this would've been a good episode to end the series. Although unintentionally, it rounds out the other episodes nicely and pretty much drives home the fact that Fawlty Towers is a hotel that's beyond help.
This is the episode with the well-known 'Basil pokes Manuel in the eye' scene and a bit where Basil walks in on a guest preparing to have his way with an inflatable sex doll. By episode's end, it seems like just about everyone has 'had it' with the lousy hotel - even Manuel belts out a firm, "Meeester Fawlty, I no wan' to work here anymore! I on strike!" But in the end, Basil is the one who gets the respite and once again, leaves Sybil to solve the day's problems. Personally, I think this would've been a good episode to end the series. Although unintentionally, it rounds out the other episodes nicely and pretty much drives home the fact that Fawlty Towers is a hotel that's beyond help.
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