Basil the Rat
| "Basil The Rat" | |
|---|---|
| Fawlty Towers episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 6 |
| Directed by | Bob Spiers |
| Written by | John Cleese & Connie Booth |
| Production code | 12 |
| Original air date | 25 October 1979 |
"Basil the Rat" is the sixth and final episode of the second series of the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers and the final episode of the programme as a whole.
After a routine health inspection, the inspector, Mr. Carnegie, after an exhaustive listing of problems in the kitchen, informs Basil and Sybil that Fawlty Towers is below standard, with the flaws including the presence of two dead pigeons in the water tank. He will, therefore, recommend closure to the Council if they do not rectify the problems within 24 hours. The staff all get to work straight away. When Basil is alerting Manuel, he notices that he is keeping a pet rat, having been conned into thinking that it's a Siberian hamster. Basil, afraid that the health inspector will take issue with it, removes it. Infuriated, Manuel threatens to resign, and it is debated what to do with it. Eventually, it is agreed that it will be moved to a friend of Polly's, but she and Manuel secretly hide it in a shed nearby. Foolishly, Manuel lets it out to exercise, and it escapes back into the hotel, prompting a discreet rat hunt. Unfortunately, Basil learns of it from the Major, who had tried to shoot it, and decides to join in the hunt after a confrontation ("We can deal with the sackings later"). During the search, Basil applies rat poison to a veal fillet and puts it on the floor in the kitchen.
Just as Carnegie arrives, the Major sees the rat and shoots at it. Basil silences him (by jabbing him in the groin with the butt of the gun) and persuades him to say his target was a starling. Manuel, while asking about his rat, whose name is "Basil", is informed that the chef puts a lot of basil in the ratatouille. Panicking ("He put Basil in the ratatouille?!"), Manuel runs into the kitchen, only to be informed by Terry that "I haven't made any bleedin' ratatouille!" In the commotion, a tray of veal is spilled, and the poisoned cutlet is picked up as well by an unknowing Terry. To make matters worse, every subsequent guest asks for veal, including Mr. Carnegie, who has decided to stay for lunch after declaring the hotel to once again be in satisfactory condition. Unable to persuade him to try something else, or discern which veal is safe, they resort to using a piece the cat chewed, as it is not demonstrating signs of poisoning. Moments later, Basil retrieves it after he walks out the back and sees the cat choking, only to discover that the cat was, by extremely remarkable coincidence, throwing up a fur ball when Basil had seen it. Meanwhile, Manuel spots the rat at the table of an engaged young couple named Quentina and Ronald, and when Basil is called over to explain Manuel's shock, he informs him that there is a bread roll under the table, ordering Manuel to get a box. The couple decide to dine elsewhere, but Polly informs Basil that the rat is in Quentina's handbag. She catches him trying to fish it out, and he is only saved from a "bunch of fives" from an indignant Ronald after Polly says that there has been a bomb scare. Unfortunately, the rat bites Basil and escapes into the dining room. Manuel catches and hides it in the biscuit tin. When he turns around for a moment, the Major takes the box for a biscuit. Manuel does not see this and frantically searches for the box.
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