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I have so anticipated this series on DVD like no other. I have seen the Fawlty Towers episodes so many times dating back to before I can remember. A school friend and myself once did a mock recital of one of the famous "Mrs Richards" scenes at a school camp back in 1987, my God am I getting that old, but it just goes to show you how long this series has been around. Filmed between 1975 & 1979 when good fashion sense did not exist, ‘Fawlty Towers’ was unfortunately only a series of 12 episodes written by funnyman and amazing comic talent John Cleese and then partner Connie Booth.

Cleese stars as Basil Fawlty, owner and manager of ‘Fawlty Towers’ a medium sized hotel in the English town of Torquay. Together with his Cybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales), the extremely funny spanish servant Manuel (Andrew Sachs) and waitress Polly (Connie Booth) they get themselves into some hilarious situations with the poor unfortunate guests who happen to pass through the hotel. Armed with a razor sharp wit and just as sharp sarcasm and short temper Basil mistreats and insults the guests in some of the most funny and extraordinary ways possible.

The success of the series owes itself to the fantastic script and performances, none other than by Cleese himself who is absolutely perfect as Basil Fawlty. This is comedy at it’s best that has stood the test of time and I find myself laughing just as much now as I did when I first saw it many years ago. Some episodes are better than others but each has their own little bit of comic magic that many of the comedy sitcoms of today simply can only grasp at. Fawlty Towers was voted the No. 1 television program of all time by the British Film Institute and it’s an award just deserved.

VIDEO
The 3 DVD boxset has been divided up into the episodes and special features. The first 2 DVD’s are made up of all twelve episodes (six on each) whilst the third DVD contains the special features. I have also seen the Region 1 version, this is also a 3 DVD set but contains only four episodes per DVD and has the special features spread across all 3 discs. I much prefer our method of containing all the special features on the one DVD. It was quite confusing trying to remember which special feature was on which disc with the Region 1 version as it’s not indicated on the packaging nor on the disc cover itself. You had to actually go to the menu, which was tiresome when you’d already searched through two discs already.

In regards to the transfer quality. Remembering that the series is almost 30 years old now, and comparing it to the countless times I’ve seen in on VHS and broadcast on the ABC the transfers (framed for television at 1.33:1 in 4x3 mode) are quite good. I think from memory that the actual masters at BBC were destroyed many years ago. The video master for the DVD must have been in quite poor condition and I think this is probably the best that could have been done with it. Colours, shadow detail and fleshtones are quite good but there is a little bit artifacting which consists of abit of shimmering in areas of fine detail e.g. Newspaper printing, Basil’s tweed jacket and a general softness to the picture here and there are noticeable but not overly distracting. If you think of it being slightly better than broadcast quality then you’re pretty close. I’ve compared both the Region 4 & Region 1 editions and they both exhibit the same qualities, obviously the same master was used for both. The Region 1 still looks pretty good even though it’s been transferred to the NTSC format. The added PAL resolution of the Region 4 adds nothing to the overall quality.

EXTRAS
There are some excellent special features contained in this DVD set which will just about satisfy every fan. We have audio commentaries by both Directors of the series, John Howard Davies directed one of the series whilst Bob Spiers directed the other. Both are quite good and fairly informative. An audio commentary done by the main cast would have been sublime and the icing on the cake but unfortunately was not possible for reasons unknown.
[ED The BBC in their Infinite wisdom thought it best to have ONLY The commentary dialogue playing during this track..there is NO on-screen soundtrack playing quitely in the backgound as one normally gets with a DVD commentary, this is MOST annoying when you get "oh and i just love this line coming up....dead space while we wait for funny line, dead space while we still wait for funny line...  great bourkes!) 

Interviews with the main cast (Cleese, Prunella Scales & Andrew Sachs) are provided however and give some excellent insight into the making of the series, it’s amazing to see how much they have aged over all these years, Andrew Sachs (Manuel) looks so different now, I would have not recognised him if he’d passed me on the street. The interview with Cleese is very intelligent and informative and runs for 18 minutes.

The disc also contains a brief segment of outtakes, these are pretty good but only runs for about a minute and a half. No doubt there must have been heaps of these but would have been lost, deleted or destroyed over time.

Also included is short featurette on the actual hotel in Torquay and the manager who inspired Cleese to make Fawlty Towers.

Cast bios (these are audio biographies. A recorded biography is read whilst the particular actors filmography is on screen) and a short two minute video segment on the actual location of the building used for the exterior shots of Fawlty Towers are included, the clip shows footage of the building after it was destroyed by fire in 1991 and subsequently demolished and replaced by housing. The video shows the building shortly after the fire with it’s overgrown gardens, boarded up windows and smashed glass with a nice piece of classical music playing in the background, it’s quite eerie and a tad nostalgic. (Would have made an excellent tourist attraction has this not of happened).

Overall a fantastic comedy series on a fantastic 3 DVD set. Fans of the series, me included can at last own arguably one of the funniest programs ever to come out of the U.K. on DVD forever. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T43W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Toshiba 2109 Region Free
Receiver: Yamaha RXV995 (DD/DTS)
Speakers:-
     Fronts: Polk Audio RT55
     Centre: Polk Audio CS350
     Rears: Polk Audio RT/fx 
     Sub: M&K MX125 

- Review Posted 20th November 2001

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