The Kipper and the Corpse
| "The Kipper and the Corpse" | |
|---|---|
| Fawlty Towers episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 4 |
| Directed by | Bob Spiers |
| Written by |
John Cleese Connie Booth |
| Production code | 10 |
| Original air date | 12 March 1979 |
"The Kipper and the Corpse" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. It first aired at 9.00pm on 12 March 1979 on BBC2. Distinguishing it from other episodes is its heavy use of black comedy.
During the early 1970s, John Cleese met a young hotelier called Andrew Leeman. They went on holiday together to the Aegean with their girlfriends between the first and second series of Fawlty Towers, a time when Cleese was looking for ideas for plots. During the holiday, Leeman told him how when he was working at the Savoy he found a guest dead in his room, and was told to discreetly dispose of the body. Cleese turned this into "The Kipper and the Corpse" and the character who died was named Mr. Leeman in his honour.
Basil and Sybil are working the bar where Mrs. Chase is fussing over her shih-tzu dog and Dr. Price wants some sausages, but all they can offer him are sandwiches. During the evening, a guest, Mr. Leeman, returns to Fawlty Towers feeling unwell in the stomach; we (but not the Fawltys) are introduced at this point to his business colleagues who, after sympathising and making arrangements for a meeting the next morning, leave. As Leeman picks up his key, he asks for breakfast in bed, much to Basil's disdain. Not particularly interested in discussing food the way he is feeling, he opts for the Continental breakfast; Sybil offers kippers and he agrees.
The following morning, Dr. Price still yearns for some sausages, while Mrs. Chase makes a fuss of her dog, which bites Manuel and Polly for no reason. They exact revenge by putting liberal lashings of pepper and tabasco sauce on its food, causing it a severe stomach ache. In the kitchen Basil spots that the kippers Terry is cooking for Leeman are out of date. Despite his protestations, he is semi-reassured by Terry and outrightly overruled by Sybil, who orders him to take the breakfast upstairs. So distracted by fury at industrial action reported in that morning's papers, he fails to notice that Leeman has died (possibly of stomach hemorrhage), assuming that his silence is due simply to rudeness, and instead rants about the strike while tidying the room and opening the curtains. Moments later, Polly takes up the milk which had been mistakenly omitted from Leeman's breakfast tray, realises immediately that Leeman has died and hurries downstairs - visibly shaken - to tell everyone. Recalling the "Sell-By" date he spotted earlier, Basil immediately panics that the kippers killed him, but Dr. Price examines Leeman's body and concludes that he actually died at least ten hours ago. Basil, Manuel, and Polly are then burdened with the task of trying to move the body from the room without the guests seeing. However, while moving him across the upstairs hall, Miss Tibbs sees the body and gets hysterical, so on Basil's advice Polly slaps her, but rather too hard and in fact knocks her out. The unconscious Miss Tibbs and the deceased are hidden in a bedroom cupboard. The room's occupants Mr. and Mrs. White want to enter their room there and then, so Basil, Polly, and Manuel have to create a distraction, but Mr. and Mrs. White still hear Miss Tibbs moaning in the cupboard and force Basil to let her out. Whilst Basil tells them that she is a mad woman who likes to hide in people's wardrobes, Polly notices that Leeman's arm is sticking out of the cupboard and desperately tries to signal this to Basil, only resulting in more confusion.
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