VIDEOS

ANORAKS ANONYMOUS / THE COMPLETE FAWLTY TOWERS / RELATED VIDEOS

Fawlty Towers must rate as the most released BBC video ever, ( and that is just in the UK), although there are basically only four different tapes, these four tapes have been released in a variety of different video formats, sleeves, logos, box-set compilations, digitally remastered editions and in 1998 with an interview with John Cleese.

The four basic tapes are identified by the title episode (although not always first on the tape), and not by the number, which has varied over the years.

THE GERMANS	WITH	A TOUCH OF CLASS
	AND	THE HOTEL INSPECTORS
THE PSYCHIATRIST	WITH	THE BUILDERS
	AND	THE WEDDING PARTY
THE KIPPER AND THE CORPSE	WITH	WALDORF SALAD
	AND	GOURMET NIGHT
BASIL THE RAT	WITH	COMMUNICATION PROBLEM
	AND	THE ANNIVERSARY

In 1994 digitally remastered versions were released by BBC Enterprises Ltd., the details of which are shown below.

© BBC Enterprises Ltd

 
          THE PSYCHIATRIST - BBCV 5213    THE GERMANS - BBCV 5214

© BBC Enterprises Ltd

      BASIL THE RAT - BBCV 5215    THE KIPPER AND THE CORPSE - BBCV 5216

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In 1998 4 new versions of the videos were releases by BBC Worldwide Ltd. These videos feature totally redesigned sleeves, the spines of which go togeather to form the words Fawlty Towers.

The tapes themselves include an exclusive interview with John Cleese talking about the making of Fawlty Towers. The four videos (details of which are shown below) were also released as a box set at the same time.

© BBC Worldwide Ltd

 
          THE PSYCHIATRIST - BBCV 6633    BASIL THE RAT - BBCV 6632

© BBC Worldwide Ltd

      THE GERMANS - BBCV 6635    THE KIPPER AND THE CORPSE - BBCV 6634

ANORAKS ANONYMOUS

This section is for the really keen 'Fawlty Towers' collector, and contains details of all the different versions of the videos that have been released, along with a description of the various differences.

Video Format: Videos have, to our knowledge, been released on three different formats in the UK, the almost universal VHS, and the now defunct Betamax and the even more ancient Phillips V-2000.

Certificate: Those videos released before 1985 do not have a British Board of Film Certification rating on them. The rating given was PG and has remained the same on all releases.

Bar-code: Earlier versions (pre-1985) have no bar-codes, the bar-codes on later versions have remained the same until the release of the digitally remastered editions in 1994.

National Captioning Institute Logo: This logo and the accompanying changes to the video tape were introduced in 1993. It means that people with specially equipped television sets can watch the tapes with subtitles. This has featured on all versions since 1993.

BBC Logo: Over the years, as the BBC's corporate identity changed, so did the style of logo on the sleeve, the video label and on the tape itself (in the opening and closing segments). There are four different types, shown below in date order.(Logos © BBC)

Credits: Two basic differences exist, older videos have the credits for the three episodes edited together and placed after the final episode, the newer videos have the credits as they were originally intended, at the end of each episode.

Video Number: The fourth character of the number (after the BBC) indicates the video format (V - VHS, B - Betamax and P - Phillips V-2000), there are three different combinations of the four remaining digits (the pre-1985, the 1985 to 1994 releases and the digitally remasted versions).

Sleeve adverts: Newer videos were released in clear plastic cases, which allowed the inside of the sleeve to be used to advertise BBC videos including Fawlty Towers.

With such a popular set of videos as Fawlty Towers, it should come as no surprise to learn that the BBC have released all four of the tapes together in a box-set. Like the individual tapes there have been several different box-sets available over the years. The differences are basically the same as those on the individual tapes, such as format and logo, but also include two other notable differences, the design of the box and whether the box-set was released in co-operation with anyone else (e.g. W.H.Smith). The title of the box-sets has remained the same throughout, "The Complete Fawlty Towers".

© BBC Enterprises Ltd

PHILIPS V-2000   WHSMITHS

1984 V-2000 set : The box on this set features a group photo, a set of individual photos, and a photo of the hotel on a background of rather old and peeling wallpaper, with the blurb on one side.

1992 VHS N.C.I. set (Exclusive to WHSmiths) : This box is bright red with a group photo with an inset picture of the hotel on the sides and the blurb on the back of the box. The tapes in this box have printed on the side that they are from the box-set.

1992 VHS N.C.I. set (Available from BBC Direct) : This box is the same as the previous one, but without the "WHSmiths Exclusive Video" logo on it.

1994 VHS N.C.I set (Exclusive to WHSmiths) : This is the digitally re-mastered video box-set, which is virtually the same as the early WHSmiths box-set which it replaces.

1998 VHS set : This is the box set of the new videos featuring interviews with John Cleese.

FAWLTY TOWERS RELATED VIDEOS

This is the video of the BBC television program of the same name, but with extra footage added. It features three clips from 'Fawlty Towers', the first is from 'The Psychiatrist', the scene features Sybil slamming the bedroom door in Basils face and the wall wobbles.

The second extract comes from 'Basil the Rat', where Basil discovers Manuels rat and Manuel accidentally calls it a pigeon., The third clip comes from 'Communication Problem' and features the scene in the lobby where Polly is dealing with Mr Thurston when Mrs Richard arrives, in the out-take Polly gets Mr Thrustons name wrong and calls him Mr Richard instead.