sorry for basil?


Sybil did make his life a misery at times-stopping him betting.Possible guests-Alf Garnett, Victor Meldrew, Gordon Brittas, the Trotters..

reply

I felt quite sorry for him in "The Anniversary" - the one time we see him try to do something genuinely nice for Sybil, and he still manages to screw it up.

I think there is a certain degree of pathos in Basil's character, as he's really just a man out of his time; you sometimes get the feeling that there's a decent man in there trying to get out, but he is just overwhelmed with the changing values of the modern world. Society is quickly changing around him, and he just can't incorporate these changes into his archaic world-view. A bit like the average Brexit voter, really...

Make tea, not war. 🌈

reply

the problems with the anniversary wasn't even his fault! that stupid roger was obnoxious! as was that nurse friend!

Oh God. Fortune vomits on my eiderdown once more.

reply

A bit like the average Brexit voter, really...


Britain had been in the EU since 1973 and Britain really never had a vote on it to begin with.

reply

Well, there was the referendum in 1975, which ratified the decision to join the EEC (as it was then). And the 2016 referendum effectively un-ratified it, which at least makes things nicely symmetrical.

Make tea, not war. 🌈

reply

Well it had been around since the 70s so it isn't like anything new. Many Brexit voters who weren't even alive in the 70s voted to leave the EU.

reply

Well indeed, although the majority of under-35s - at least those who could be bothered to vote - voted to remain in the EU, whereas older people (who are always more likely to vote in any case) tended to vote leave. Brexit is still seen as very much a middle-aged/elderly thing. The wrinkly revolution.

Make tea, not war. 🌈

reply

Well indeed, although the majority of under-35s - at least those who could be bothered to vote - voted to remain in the EU, whereas older people (who are always more likely to vote in any case) tended to vote leave. Brexit is still seen as very much a middle-aged/elderly thing. The wrinkly revolution.


1. Are you British by any chance?

2. What is so wrong with leaving the EU?

3. 35-39 is NOT old...especially these days it is very young.

4. Well a lot of younger people didn't bother to vote. If enough of them cared they would have voted. Many younger people haven't experienced the real world as much as older people either, which is why many of them tend to vote for more left wing things. Promises of being taken care of is attractive to people with less experience with the world.

5. You're an ageist. It is largely seen as an elderly thing (or should I say "wrinkly thing" according to you) because of the media.

reply

1. Yes, it's one of my many failings.

2. Short answer: I think it's likely to cause a lot of unnecessary and avoidable short-term social and economic upheaval with no real long-term benefit to the country, at least none that is apparent at this point. Just my view: 52% of the country disagrees with me. I'm cool with that.

3. I quite agree. I'm a positively sprightly 44.

4. No argument here either.

5. No, I just made a flippant remark, which is another of my many failings. (I mean, a flippant remark on the internet of all places, what is the world coming to?!) It was, after all, a similarly flippant remark likening Basil to a Brexit voter that brought us to this juncture. Believe me, I'm face-palming as I type...

Anyway, let's get back to discussing Fawlty Towers. And Happy New Year. ξ€Ή


Make tea, not war. 🌈

reply

One more remark: Switzerland and Norway are not in the EU, but they still have some of the best economies in the world. After all, the EU was created only in response to Hitler trying to take over the continent. Hitler has been dead for over 71 years now and now it is the EU trying to take over all of Europe and make the continent into a single nation. Their lenient immigration measures has led to a lot of violence spilling into Europe in the last few years. It is the same with Trump being elected in the US. It is not that people are against immigration, it is just that it has gotten out of control and people have had enough. Sorry, but we have borders for a reason. Allowing just anybody in always leads to danger.

Happy New Year to you too BTW

reply

Well, six years on, I think my comments have aged a lot better than GayBoi1's. Brexit is an absolute fucking catastrophe from start to finish.

What's more, net immigration is now higher than it has ever been, and while immigration from the EU is a lot lower (which is a pity, because that means there are now thousands of unfilled job vacancies in the sort of occupations that many native Brits don't want to work in - healthcare, service industries, manufacturing, fruit picking, taxi driving, deliveries, etc.), the sort of immigration that made a lot of people vote Brexit in the first place - the dreaded "brown people" - is rising to record levels (and that doesn't include those poor sods risking their lives trying to cross the Channel in rickety boats).

So, jolly good show, Brexiteers. Well done on completely fucking up your apparently beloved country, its economy and its very future. Have a pint of warm beer and a Boris brand pork pie on me. You've earned it.

reply

Not usually. By the end of the episode, he's usually either the cause or exacerbation of the catastrophes heaping upon his head.

The Psychiatrists, for instance, starts out with him paranoid about the two doctors and accidentally groping a girl, and that's unfortunate but not Basil's fault. However, by the end of the episode, it's 100% his bullheaded need to catch the hippy and his girlfriend, not to mention his increasingly foolish decisions with the other guests, that causes everything to crash around his head.

The Waldorf Salad is another one. He can't get the backbone to tell the demanding American, "No, the kitchen's closed. Here are some restaurants you could go to," nor can he countenance actually paying Terry a bit of the bribe money just because Terry was going on a date. So, what does he do? He lies. At first, we're on Basil's side because of the loud, pushy guy throwing around temper and money to get his way. By the end of the episode, not so much. Although, notably, Basil is also horrible to almost every other guest in this episode.

Sybil is just enough of a virago to make me a little sympathetic to Basil. She does obnoxiously hang around on the telephone with Audrey while Basil is trying to do things. However, she also raises a good point that Basil winds up fighting with the guests, which means Sybil often manages to finish whatever she's doing for fun and then solve the guests' problems before Basil is done arguing with them over petty perceived slights and personal hangups.

The only exception I can think of is the woman with the hearing aid. While Basil's betting in Communication Problems isn't something he should be doing behind his wife's back, the utterly horrid guest is the worst person on the show, and when Basil berates her, it's not only funny (as usual) it's actually warranted for once. I also find it hard to blame Basil for wanting to have a little fun with the horses and - assuming he's not addicted and causing financial problems - Sybil should just let him have a bit of fun.

reply