Fawlty Towers is ‘veally good’, say Germans

DO MENTION the war, the German ambassador has signalled to Britain, as he backed a controversial episode of Fawlty Towers.

Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, has expressed his support for the scene in which the hotelier Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, offends German guests with repeated references to the Second World War.

In the 1970s sitcom, Mr Fawlty tells Polly, the waitress: “Don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once and I think I got away with it all right.”

He repeats the German family’s meal request as a “prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering and four Colditz salads”, and describes their requested food as “orders which must be obeyed at all times without question”.

When asked by a German guest to stop mentioning the war, Fawlty says: “Me? You started it!”. The guest responds: “We did not start it.” To which Fawlty says: “Yes, you did, you invaded Poland.”

Fawlty is also seen marching through the hotel with a finger over his lip to symbolise a moustache in an imitation of Adolf Hitler.

Now, a spokesman for the German ambassador has told The Mail on Sunday that the embassy in London is amused by the episode. They said: “We here at the embassy think the iconic restaurant scene is funny. To quote Basil Fawlty, we think it’s ‘veally good’.”

His comments come before the opening on Saturday of a stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers by Cleese, based on three episodes including The Germans, at the Apollo Theatre in London.

The spokesman for Mr Berger said: “Fawlty Towers is widely considered one of Britain’s finest comedies and has remained popular with German audiences since it was first broadcast. Like many people in the UK, we’re looking forward to seeing how this landmark comedy translates to the stage.”

Cleese told The Mail on Sunday that Germans have never complained about the controversial episode. He said: “No German has ever complained to me about that because they are what I call grown-ups. They can take a joke.”

Anew play opening this week and written by John Cleese brings his most famous character to the stage. Basil Fawlty, the hapless Torquay hotelier, will be portrayed in all his grotesque glory berating guests and exhibiting almost epic levels of snobbery. He puts people off attending a gourmet evening by insisting on “no riff-raff ”. How will those of modern sensibilities cope?

They can be guided by the German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, who says he has no problem with the famous “Don’t mention the war” episode, which was once taken off the air for fear of causing offence and is today broadcast with trigger warnings.

We love it, says Herr Berger. Who says the Germans have no sense of humour?