Controversial Fawlty Towers episode lauded by German ambassador to the UK

A spokesman for the German ambassador said: "We here at the embassy think the iconic restaurant scene is funny." Photo / BBC

Miguel Berger expresses admiration for the scene in which the hotelier, played by John Cleese, offends German guests.

Do mention the war, the German ambassador to the UK signalled as he backed controversial Fawlty Towers episode The Germans.

Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, expressed admiration for the scene in which the hotelier, played by John Cleese, offends German guests with repeated references to the Second World War.

In the 1970s sitcom, Fawlty tells Polly, the waitress: “Don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.”

He repeats the German family’s meal request as “a prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering and four Colditz salads”, and describes their requested food as “orders which must be obeyed at all times without question”.

When asked by a German guest to stop mentioning the war, Fawlty says: “Me? You started it!”. The guest responds, “We did not start it”, to which Fawlty says: “Yes, you did, you invaded Poland.”

Fawlty is also seen marching through the hotel with a finger over his lip to symbolise a moustache in an imitation of Adolf Hitler.

Now a spokesman for Berger has told The Mail on Sunday that the embassy in London is amused by the episode, saying: “We here at the embassy think the iconic restaurant scene is funny. To quote Basil Fawlty, we think it’s ‘veally good’.”

His comments come ahead of the opening of a stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers next week. The adaptation, by Cleese and based on three episodes including The Germans, will open at the Apollo Theatre in London.

The spokesman said: “Fawlty Towers is widely considered one of Britain’s finest comedies, and has remained popular with German audiences since it was first broadcast.

John Cleese (right) said Germans have never complained about the episode.

“Like many people in the UK, we’re looking forward to seeing how this landmark comedy translates to the stage.”

Cleese told The Mail on Sunday that Germans have never complained about the controversial episode, saying: “The only people who have never ever complained about the German episode are the Germans. No German has ever complained to me about that because they are what I call grown-ups. They can take a joke.”

He is working on a new TV version of Fawlty Towers with his daughter, Camilla.

Writing for The Telegraph, he said the remake would be “a modern update in which Basil (played by me) goes out to the Caribbean where his long-lost daughter (played by Camilla) is a hotelier and wants a bit of help.”