The Germans

"**The Germans**"
"The Germans"
Fawlty Towers episode
	Basil Fawlty does the "funny walk", offending the German visitors
Episode no.	Series 1; Episode 6
Directed by	John Howard Davies
Written by	John Cleese; Connie Booth;
Editing by	Bob Rymer
Original air date	24 October 1975
Running time	35 minutes
Guest appearances
	Lisa Bergmayr as German Guest; Willy Bowman as German Guest; Brenda Cowling as Sister; Claire Davenport as Miss Wilson; Iris Fry as Mrs Sharp; Dan Gillan as German Guest; Nick Kane as German Guest; John Lawrence as Mr Sharp; Louis Mahoney as Doctor Finn;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Gourmet Night"	Next →; "Communication Problems"
	List of episodes

"The Germans" is the sixth episode of the first series of the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers. Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and directed by John Howard Davies, it was first broadcast on BBC2 on 24 October 1975.^[1]

In the episode, while suffering the effects of a concussion, Basil Fawlty waits on a party of hotel guests from West Germany. Despite warning his staff "They're Germans! Don't mention the war", he keeps obliviously ignoring his own advice. His barrage of anti-German sentiment culminates in a goose-stepping impersonation of Adolf Hitler. The Germans are first deeply hurt, but are ultimately left wondering aloud how such idiots as Basil Fawlty and Major Gowen could ever have beaten their ancestors in two World Wars.^[2]

^ Bright & Ross 2001, p. 158.
^ Berman, Garry (2011). Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to The Office. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 9781589795662.

[FOOTNOTEBrightRoss2001158-1] Bright & Ross 2001, p. 158.

[2] Berman, Garry (2011). Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to The Office. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 9781589795662.

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