'Fawlty Towers' - Basil Trivia Quiz

Answer: The picture Sybil asked him to hang at the start of the show

The episode starts with a confrontation between Basil and Sybil, in which she gives him a list of tasks that need to be taken care of, including hanging a picture in the reception area, a task he repeatedly starts, but does not complete. He is so impressed by the aristocratic-appearing 'Lord Melbury' that he is horribly rude to his other less classy patrons, until he finds that he has been conned out of a hundred pounds. In his anger he assaults Melbury, just as Sir Richard and Lady Morris arrive. They are so horrified at this display that they leave, causing Basil to collapse. While he is once again trying to hang the picture, one of his neglected customers comes into the hall to demand the drink he ordered earlier. That is the last straw for Basil - he smashes the picture, then grabs Mr Wareing by the arm and marches him into the bar to get served.

As well as letting us see Basil's famously short temper, this episode gives us a glimpse of Polly's cleverness, Sybil's managerial skills, Manuel's well-meaning ineptitude (magnified by his lack of English), and hotel regulars Major Gowen, Abitha Tibbs and Ursula Gatsby.

Answer: O'Reilly

While the Fawltys are away for the weekend, changes are planned that involve blocking off a doorway and creating another one that leads from the lobby to the kitchen. Sybil is adamant that Stubbs, a very competent but equally expensive builder, is to do the job, but Basil surreptitiously arranges for the incompetent O'Reilly, who is referred to several times as a cowboy builder, to do the work. Of course, O'Reilly (supported by three laborers named Murphy, Kerr and Jones) makes a mess of it, which Basil tries desperately to conceal from Sybil, but to no avail.

When Stubbs finally arrives, it seems as if O'Reilly has fixed things up, until Stubbs notices that the door has been placed in a load-bearing wall without proper structural modification. Basil storms off, carrying the gnome which Bennion had delivered earlier for Sybil under his arm, in search of O'Reilly.

Answer: Mrs Peignoir

Alan and Jean check in, and Basil is appalled to discover that they want one room, even though they are not yet married - the wedding is scheduled for this weekend. Mr and Mrs Lloyd are Jean's parents, and Polly went to school with Jean. One way or another, Basil manages to think that they are all involved in kinky relationships, but is enlightened by Sybil. Mrs Peignoir, meanwhile, has been flirting madly with Basil, leading to several awkward incidents, including Basil trying to send Sybil away from the bedroom door when she returns early from her visit to Audrey, on the mistaken impression that it is Mrs Peignoir trying to get in and seduce him. Sybil overlooks the odd conversation, because she has heard a noise downstairs, and sends Basil down to investigate. Once again, Manuel is the loser - the noise is him struggling out of the laundry basket where he has been sleeping off an excessive consumption of alcohol.

He staggers out just in time to be hit over the head with a saucepan by Basil, who is found crouching over Manuel's unconscious body, clad only in his underpants, as the wedding party returns.

Answer: No riff-raff

Only four customers arrive after Basil explicitly bans riff-raff from the night, but that turns out to be four too many. Kurt has drunk himself into a stupor because Manuel has spurned his romantic overtures, so Basil has to turn to another restaurant, Andre's, to provide the food. Andre agrees to supply Basil with a couple of duck dishes, and Basil offers his guests three choices: duck with orange, duck with cherries, or duck surprise (which has neither orange nor cherries), but typical clumsy waitering leaves them squashed and inedible.

As Basil is returning with the second batch, his car breaks down, leading to a memorable scene in which he threatens it, kicks it, and finally gives it "a damn good thrashing" with a fallen tree branch that he finds nearby.

Then he carries the dish back to his hotel, only to discover that he was given the wrong platter, and has a Bombe Surprise instead of the duck.

Answer: Moose

The moose is a recurring feature in this episode. Basil's first attempt to hang it is thwarted by his lack of a hammer, and Manuel's inability to understand what he needs. While Basil is fetching the hammer, the Major hears Manuel (crouching behind the reception desk) practicing his English, and believes that it is the moose that is speaking. No sooner does Basil finally hang the moose than it falls on his head.

The next morning, he makes another attempt, and successfully hangs the moose head, but one of its antlers keeps drooping, no matter how he tries to fix it.

The action then changes to a fire drill which sends Basil to hospital with a concussion. He sneaks out to get home in time to welcome some German visitors, whom he promptly offends with his gratuitous and unintentional references to World War II (despite his repeated admonitions to the staff not to mention the war).

When the doctor arrives to try and take him back to the hospital, Basil tries to escape, but the moose head falls on him, knocking him out again, and bounces off, landing on Manuel's head.

As Manuel complains that Basil has hit him on the head yet again, the Major comes past, and, totally unsurprised to hear the moose talking, responds that it was the moose that had hit Basil, and then smacks the moose in an act of chastisement that sees Manuel bearing the blow yet again.

Answer: She had left it behind in an antique store while buying a vase.

In the middle of dealing with Mrs Richards's complaints about her room, most of which stem from her poor sight and hearing, Basil sends Manuel to place a bet for him (since Sybil has banned Basil from betting, and he can't place the bet himself). Manuel collects the winnings of £75, and passes it on to Basil via Polly.

When Mrs Richards announces that £85 is missing from her room, Sybil assumes that this is the money she saw Polly counting earlier, but Polly claims that she won it herself. Basil gives his money to the Major to keep it out of Sybil's sight. Of course, the Major forgets where he got it from, and only reluctantly returns it to Basil, claiming to have found it. That leads Mrs Richards to claim it as hers, even though it is less than the amount she lost.

When a vase she purchased the previous day is delivered, the deliveryman also returns the wallet she left behind, with £95 inside. Basil is about to end up with an extra £10, until he breaks the vase, and has to give its value (coincidentally, £75) to Mrs Richards. All that effort for £10!

Answer: Mr Abbott

When the Abbotts check in, Basil discovers that she is a pediatrician (which he confuses with podiatrist), and he is a psychiatrist. Basil immediately panics at the thought that he may say something revealing, and cannot stop producing awkward statements and finding himself in incriminating situations.

A number of these centre on Raylene Miles, a young Australian whom Basil finds attractive, although he tries to avoid facing up to the fact. Needless to say, he is going to be caught in her closet, where he hides when he enters her room to find her changing her top after he accidentally gets dirty handprints on it.

This allows Sybil to berate him, taking the moral high ground despite the fact that she had earlier been flirting with Mr Johnson. Basil's attempts to catch Mr Johnson with a young woman in his room, against hotel regulations and totally against Basil's rigid code of sexual conduct, create a number of moments that allow Mr. Abbott to comment, "There's enough material there for an entire conference."

Answer: Ritz salad

Basil's first response is to say that they are out of Waldorfs, but when he is told what the ingredients are, he is unable to locate them, and returns to offer an alternative, also named after a famous hotel, using ingredients that he has located in the kitchen: the Ritz salad, consisting of apples, grapefruit and potatoes in mayonnaise. Meanwhile, Sybil has put together two Waldorf salads. Because Basil is pretending that Terry the chef is still there (after all, the Hamiltons have paid to have him stay), he pretends to scold Terry in the kitchen.

While he is busy reading a fake letter of apology from Terry to the Hamiltons, their steaks burn, and Basil rushes in to berate Terry again. When the Hamiltons follow and find him yelling at thin air, that is the final straw.

The other dissatisfied guests join in their complaints along with those of the Hamiltons, giving John Cleese the chance to do one of his fine turns as an enraged Basil.

Answer: We are not told, but it was possibly from a stomach hemorrhage.

Mr Leeman checks in with an upset stomach, and proceeds to die in his sleep. When Basil delivers the breakfast that had been ordered, despite his misgivings at serving kippers that had passed their use-by date, he does not notice that the man is dead.

It is Polly who makes that discovery when she takes up the milk that had been left off his tray. Fortunately, the doctor confirms that he died many hours ago, and Basil does not have to worry about having poisoned him. However, he still has a corpse on his hands, and the attempts to remove it stealthily lead to a great deal of slapstick.

In the end, he hides inside a laundry basket to make his escape, leaving Sybil to deal with all the outraged guests.

Answer: Siberian hamster

The rat's name allows for plenty of jokes involving Basil Fawlty, Basil the rat and the herb basil being mistaken for each other. Attempts to recapture the escaped rat include the Major shooting at it, and Basil laying a piece of veal coated in rat poison to attract it. Of course, the poisoned veal gets mixed up with an entire tray of veal, and everyone wants veal for lunch. Most are fobbed off to other dishes, but the inspector remains adamant, so Basil retrieves a piece of veal that the cat has chewed on with no apparent ill effects, washes it and serves it. Meanwhile, the rat has made its way to the dining room, and is spotted in a handbag, from which it escapes before Manuel catches it and hides it in a biscuit tin which is subsequently handed to the inspector, who comes face to face with the rat. One can only imagine that the hotel's newly-acquired certificate of acceptable conditions is about to be revoked.

Indeed, it is hard to understand how they have managed to stay open this long!