Fawlty Towers produced 12 episodes in total. The sitcom consists of two series, each containing six episodes, giving a complete run of twelve BBC episodes.
The first series was broadcast in 1975 and introduced Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, waitress Polly, Spanish waiter Manuel and the hotel’s eccentric residents. The second series followed in 1979 and included episodes such as “The Psychiatrist,” “Waldorf Salad,” “The Kipper and the Corpse” and “Basil the Rat.” Its final episode, “Basil the Rat,” was first shown on 25 October 1979.
The compact episode count was deliberate rather than the result of cancellation. John Cleese and Connie Booth concentrated on tightly plotted farce, with scripts that required precise timing and elaborate physical comedy. The programme’s short run is sometimes confused with the number of episodes made for American adaptations, some of which had different episode counts and were unsuccessful. The original British series remains a twelve-episode production, despite becoming one of television’s best-known sitcoms.