The Germans

"The Germans"
Fawlty Towers episode
Basil Fawlty does the "funny walk", offending the German visitors
Episode no.	Series 1 Episode 6
Directed by	John Howard Davies
Written by	John Cleese Connie Booth
Editing by	Bob Rymer
Original air date	24 October 1975 (1975-10-24)
Running time	35 minutes
Guest appearances
Lisa Bergmayr as German Guest Willy Bowman as German Guest Brenda Cowling as Sister Claire Davenport as Miss Wilson Iris Fry as Mrs Sharp Dan Gillan as German Guest Nick Kane as German Guest John Lawrence as Mr Sharp Louis Mahoney as Doctor Finn
Episode chronology
← Previous "Gourmet Night" Next → "Communication Problems"
List of episodes

"The Germans" is the sixth episode of the first series of the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers. Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and directed by John Howard Davies, it was first broadcast on BBC2 on 24 October 1975.^[1]

In the episode, while suffering the effects of a concussion, Basil Fawlty waits on a party of hotel guests from West Germany. Despite warning his staff "They're Germans! Don't mention the war", he keeps obliviously ignoring his own advice. His barrage of anti-German sentiment culminates in a goose-stepping impersonation of Adolf Hitler. The Germans are first deeply hurt, but are ultimately left wondering aloud how such idiots as Basil Fawlty and Major Gowen could ever have beaten their ancestors in two World Wars.^[2]

Sybil, in hospital for a few days, instructs Basil on several tasks he must complete whilst running the hotel, including running a required fire drill and hanging a moose head. At the hotel, Basil has a conversation with the senile World War I veteran Major Gowen, who cringes and expresses anti-German sentiment when Basil tells him a German group is due the next day. Basil attempts to hang the moose head with Manuel, however, Sybil continually interrupts him by calling him to remind him to do so. At one point, he leaves the head on the hotel counter to retrieve a hammer, during which Manuel practises his English from behind the counter; leading an amazed Major Gowen to think that the moose head can talk.

The next morning, Basil successfully mounts the head. After another call from Sybil, Basil prepares to start the fire drill, but ends up creating confusion with the guests between the sound of the fire alarm and the sound of the burglar alarm. Whilst cooking in the kitchen, Manuel causes a real fire, which sets off the alarm. However, Basil, unaware of this, assures the guests that it is only a drill. Upon realising that there is a real fire, Basil starts the alarm once more. He attempts to use the extinguisher on the fire, however, it bursts and sprays him in the face, blinding him. Manuel races out of the kitchen and tries to help Basil, only to accidentally knock Basil out with a frying pan.

Basil wakes up in hospital after suffering concussion, and Sybil attests to Dr Finn that Basil cannot cope with the hotel alone. Basil sneaks out and returns to Fawlty Towers in time to greet the German guests. Despite telling everyone not to "mention the war", due to a combination of his own animosity and concussion-induced mental confusion, Basil makes numerous World War II references whilst taking their dinner orders and begins arguing with them, calling out Nazi Germany and frequently referring to Adolf Hitler and others.^[3] Polly discreetly calls the hospital to warn them about Basil's behaviour.

As one of the Germans breaks down into tears, Basil begins to joke about Royal Air Force firebombing raids against German cities. This culminates in Basil performing a goose stepping impression of Adolf Hitler. Dr Finn arrives with a sedative needle, prompting Basil to flee, with Manuel also giving chase. However, Basil runs into the wall where he hung the moose head, which falls, knocks Basil out again, and lands on Manuel's head. As the stunned Germans look on, Major Gowen enters the room and launches into a conversation with what he still believes is a talking moose head. The Germans shake their heads in shocked disbelief, until one finally asks aloud, "How ever did they win?"^[4]

• John Cleese as Basil Fawlty
• Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty
• Andrew Sachs as Manuel
• Connie Booth as Polly Sherman
• Ballard Berkeley as Major Gowen
• Gilly Flower as Miss Abitha Tibbs
• Renee Roberts as Miss Ursula Gatsby

• Lisa Bergmayr as German Guest
• Willy Bowman as German Guest
• Brenda Cowling as Sister
• Claire Davenport as Miss Wilson
• Iris Fry as Mrs Sharp
• Dan Gillan as German Guest
• Nick Kane as German Guest
• John Lawrence as Mr Sharp
• Louis Mahoney as Doctor Finn

Interior scenes of this episode were recorded on 31 August 1975, in Studio TC6 of the BBC Television Centre, before a live audience.^[5] It was the only episode not to begin with an exterior shot of the hotel. Instead, an exterior shot of the Northwick Park Hospital in Brent was used.

In the scene where Manuel attempts to put out a fire in the kitchen, firemen were on standby to put out the flames.^[6] However, in the next shot where Manuel walks out to alert Basil of the fire, two chemicals were added to his arm, to create smoke.^[6] During rehearsal and filming, these chemicals soaked into his clothing, causing Andrew Sachs second degree chemical burns on his arm and back.^[6][7] As a result, the BBC paid Sachs damages worth £700.^[8]

Co-writer John Cleese claims that he "never think[s] the second half of 'The Germans' is as well written as all that".^[1] Although the first half is "written beautifully", Cleese believes the second half has "several things" wrong with it.^[1] Cleese cites in particular the fire drill scene as a favourite: "It's a situation when two people are trying to understand each other and just missing each other's meaning."^[1]

This episode popularised the phrase "Don't mention the war". Cleese turned the phrase into a song for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first time Cleese had played Basil Fawlty in 27 years.^[9] The phrase was used as a title for a humorous travel book written by Stewart Ferris and Paul Bassett, detailing travels through Germany and other European countries. It is also the title of a book by John Ramsden, published in 2006, which examines Anglo-German relations since 1890, and a 2005 Radio 4 documentary looking at the British perception of Germans.^[10]

In the first episode of the second series of the BBC series The Office, David Brent performs an impression of a paper industry figure as Basil Fawlty, quoting the phrase "Don't mention the war", and impersonating the goosestep used by Basil.^{[citation needed]}

In 1982, an LP record containing the episodes "The Kipper and the Corpse" and "The Germans" was released by BBC Records. Titled Fawlty Towers: At Your Service, the LP was the third record released by the BBC. The episodes were renamed "Death" and "Fire Drill" for the release, respectively.^[11][12]

This episode has been listed on several "best episode" lists and is one of the most popular episodes in the series. In 1997, "The Germans" was ranked No. 12 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.^[13] It was voted as number 11 in Channel 4's One Hundred Greatest TV Moments in 1999.^[14] Empire magazine listed this as the best episode of the show in its list of the 50 greatest TV episodes of all time.^[15] The American film director Martin Scorsese has cited this as his favourite episode of Fawlty Towers.^[16] Gold, a channel that regularly broadcasts Fawlty Towers, has argued that while "The Germans" is the most famous episode, the best episode is "Communication Problems".^[17] Morris Bright and Robert Ross, in their 2001 Fawlty Towers history book, wrote that if you "ask anyone who's watched Fawlty Towers which episode they recall more than any other and most will nominate 'The Germans', usually followed by cries of 'Don't mention the war!' and visions of Basil strutting around like a Pythonesque Nazi".^[1]

In 1993, Germany began broadcasting Fawlty Towers on cable television.^[18][19] These airings proved to be a "tremendous success" with ratings,^[18] and "The Germans" proved to be one of the most popular episodes shown in the country.^[19] A German spokesman at the time reported that German viewers were "most keen" on the slapstick elements within the series and specifically stated that the "'don't mention the war' scene did not cause offense".^[18] Cleese later recalled a "terrific" occasion in Hamburg when a German fan shouted "Hey, Mr Cleese, don't mention zee war!"^[20] Cleese recalled: "It's taken a little time, but I felt really good about that. That chap had got the whole point of the episode."^[21] However, when the German adaptation of the series was created in 2001, this episode was omitted from the storylines.^[18]

"The Germans" has been evaluated by critics in the context of stoking anti-German sentiment. Journalist Mark Lawson expressed the view that, "while the show will never win a prize for encouraging Anglo-German cultural understanding, Cleese is comically depicting – rather than politically promoting – fear of 'Fritz'".^[22] In response to critics, John Cleese stated that his intention in writing this episode was "to make fun of English Basil Fawltys who are buried in the past" and "to make fun of the British obsession with the Second World War".^[23][24][25]

In 2013, the BBC edited the Major's use of racial slurs from a repeat transmission of the episode, prompting some criticism by viewers.^[26] The BBC defended its decision: "We are very proud of Fawlty Towers and its contribution to British television comedy. But public attitudes have changed significantly since it was made and it was decided to make some minor changes, with the consent of John Cleese's management, to allow the episode to transmit to a family audience at 7.30pm on BBC Two."^[27] However, on 28 June 2013, Gold transmitted the unedited episode after the watershed.^{[citation needed]}

The episode was removed from the UKTV streaming service on 11 June 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd protests, with the other episodes of Fawlty Towers remaining available on the service.^[28] Cleese spoke against the removal of the episode due to the Major's use of racial slurs: "The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can't see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?"^[29] On 13 June it was reinstated by UKTV with a warning about "offensive content and language".^[30]

• Bright, Morris; Ross, Robert (2001). Fawlty Towers: Fully Booked. London: BBC Worldwide. ISBN 0 563 53439 7.

• Holm, Lars Holger (2004). Fawlty Towers: A Worshipper's Companion. Leo Publishing. ISBN 9789197366182.
• Cleese, John; Booth, Connie (1988). The Complete Fawlty Towers. London: Methuen Publishing. ISBN 978-0413183903.

• "The Germans" at IMDb
• "The Germans" at BBC Online