Fawlty Towers: Rat and biscuits

From the episode "Basil The Rat" - When the health inspector asks for cheese and biscuits, he can't quite believe his eyes.

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[BenBanjo]

1:01 That "moment" where all four of them are staring down at the rat is shot so perfectly 😂😂 And then the timing of Sybil and Polly looking anxiously at Basil, and Basil stammering the famous line - just terrific! 🤣🤣

[olivergrumitt]

The perfect ending to a perfect episode of the greatest comedy programme ever made, Basil asking the health inspector if he cared for a rat, seeing the animal in the biscuit tin! No doubt the inspector would have closed the hotel right away, alas ending any chance of more Fawlty Towers episodes!

[michaelharris]

" would you care for a rat ? " 😂 .

[pjabrony]

"Cheddar, Danish blue, Edam..." nice little shout-out there.

[wisteela]

I love how cute and funny that rat looks.

[scottbuckley]

I always thought Basil was dead at the end.

[rhondastc]

We all laughed so hard I remember my mother went into hysterics and even after the program had finish she was still laughing and any mention of it for years after that would cause her to laugh really hard.

[MrHistorian]

The funniest bit is Manuel dragging Basil across the floor by his feet at the very end.

[Ikaftl]

The mechanical rat in the tin just makes it funnier!

[Amethyst_Friend]

I always felt, from his stunned reaction and demeanour, that Mr. Carnegie couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Then when Polly returns the biscuit tin, the rat gone, he probably thought he had been hallucinating!

[johnfletcher]

Like he said that he ordered cheese and biscuits and when lid came off everyone stopped there's a tiny head moved from a tin and I know when the next line will be is"do you care for the rat" I thought that is the most funniest thing of that episode

[AnytingGoes]

No-one ever cared how fake the rat looked, or even how fake and nonsensical the whole set looked because it was the great comedy that took over. They wanted the rat to slowly turn its head and look at the inspector, in an interview someone said they rigged the tin so there was a handle underneith for Connie Booth to rotate the head herself!

[HonchHeado]

lol he questioning his sanity "I think I really need to stop drinking" hahahaha

[stephenbyrne]

I've never seen a Rat move that fast across a floor.

[boraradicevic]

Don't mind him. He's from Barcelona!

[Iggywiggywoo]

That would've resulted in Fawlty Towers being closed down for good!

[figure]

I always picture Gordon the gopher sitting in that box

[natashakershaw]

Talk about John Cleese really being called Cheese...

[PrincessZ]

One moment I never understood was, how come Manuel was dragging Basil away at the end?

[stagna]

But this was fake toy rat, so he should not be so shocked. If it jumped on his lap or bite his face, it would have been different matter of course ..