"Fawlty Towers"
The Psychiatrist (1979)

Director:

Bob Spiers

Writers:

John Cleese (written by) and
Connie Booth (written by)

TV Series:

"Fawlty Towers" (1975)

Original Air Date:

26 February 1979 (Season 2, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When two doctors register for rooms at Fawlty Towers, Basil is delighted. Soon thereafter, Basil discovers that one is a psychiatrist...

Plot Keywords:

Paranoia | English | Waiter | Hotel | Torquay

Cast

John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Connie Booth	...	Polly Shearman
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
Nicky Henson	...	Mr. Johnson
Basil Henson	...	Dr. Abbott
Elspet Gray	...	Mrs. Abbott
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Brian Hall	...	Terry
Luan Peters	...	Raylene Miles
Aimée Delamain	...	Mrs. Johnson (as Aimee Delamain)
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby
Imogen Bickford-Smith	...	Girlfriend

Certification:

Australia:PG

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Mr. Johnson picks up the phone at the front desk, he accidentally rings the bell with the side of his hand. (However, Prunella Scales quickly stops the bell from ringing and continues with her next line as if it's no big deal.)

Quotes:

Sybil Fawlty: It's a relatively new profession, psychiatry, isn't it?
Mrs. Abbott: Well, Freud started about 1880.
Sybil Fawlty: Yes, but it's only now that we're seeing them on the television.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998) (V)

Weekend Holiday in Torquay

"The Psychiatrist" is a brilliant, brilliant farce. Basil Fawlty is probably the world's greatest ass-kisser, and this story features his fawning over the two (or three??) Dr. Abbott's, who are down in Torquay for a holiday out of London. Meanwhile, a hippie man named Johnson is staying at the hotel, and sneaks his girlfriend into his room (sign of the times, eh?), making for a highly entertaining subplot as Basil tries to catch sight of her and throw them both out. But there's yet another subplot - the appearance of a beautiful lady named Raylene Miles from Australia who shows up, and Basil can't help but become infatuated with her (or so Sybil thinks.) Sybil's hair is at its beehive-best in this one, complete with Basil's reference to it: "the dormant organ you keep hidden in that rat's maze of yours!" The two 'hand on boob' scenes and Basil's breaking into guest rooms "just to check the walls"' are side-splittingly funny, as is the entire episode. Definitely one of the best-written ones in the series.