Demon Music Group releases ‘Fawlty Towers: For The Record’ vinyl

Four decades on from its original BBC TV broadcast, Fawlty Towers continues to shine as a masterclass in comedy writing and performance. Now the original four BBC vinyl albums – Fawlty Towers, Second Sitting, At Your Service and A La Carte – are joined by two newly created collections, Plat du Jour and Enjoy Your Stay, to form a box set of all twelve TV episodes. Much of the special linking narration – supplied by hapless waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs) – is unique to the vinyl versions and hasn’t been available since the original pressings.

All episodes star John Cleese as harassed hotelier Basil Fawlty, with Prunella Scales as Sybil, Connie Booth as Polly and Andrew Sachs as Manuel. Among the guest cast checking in for the night are Bernard Cribbins, Joan Sanderson, Geoffrey Palmer, Ballard Berkeley, Nicky Henson, Ken Campbell and Una Stubbs.

Each of the six 140g white vinyl LPs is presented in an all-new artwork cover, inside which is a facsimile of the original BBC Records & Cassettes cover (plus ‘faux’ period covers for Plat du Jour and Enjoy Your Stay). A four-page booklet details the development of Fawlty Towers, plus a history of the original LP releases, by Tim Worthington, author of Top of the Box – a guide to every single that was released by BBC Records And Tapes. A 12” frameable art print of Basil, which John Cleese has signed exclusively for this limited edition run, is also included in the attractive rigid box with lift-off lid.

Presented in their original vinyl LP edits, the episodes are Communications Problems (aka ‘Mrs Richards’), The Hotel Inspectors, Basil the Rat (aka ‘The Rat’), The Builders, The Kipper and the Corpse (aka ‘Death’), The Germans (aka ‘Fire Drill’), Waldorf Salad (aka ‘The Americans’), Gourmet Night, A Touch of Class, The Wedding Party, The Psychiatrist and The Anniversary.