In “Gourmet Night,” Basil tries to get a duck from André.
Basil has arranged a special gourmet evening to attract wealthier, more prestigious customers to Fawlty Towers. The plan collapses when Kurt, the chef, relapses into drinking and becomes unable to prepare the promised meal. Basil therefore goes to André’s restaurant to obtain a replacement duck.
The dish is central to the episode’s escalating farce. Basil’s car repeatedly breaks down, the first duck is ruined, and a replacement is accidentally exchanged for a pudding. When Basil finally presents the dish, the guests discover that the promised duck is missing. The episode’s menu jokes include duck with orange, duck with cherries and “duck surprise.”
A common mix-up is remembering the episode as involving another game bird, such as pheasant. Those birds appear among the wrong options, but the specific food Basil seeks from André is duck. “Gourmet Night” was the fifth episode of the first series and originally aired in 1975.