Who played builder O'Reilly in The Builders?

David Kelly played builder O’Reilly in “The Builders,” an episode of Fawlty Towers. O’Reilly is the Irish builder Basil hires to renovate the hotel lobby, but the work quickly becomes a disaster when the plans are misunderstood and the construction is carried out incorrectly.

Kelly’s performance gives O’Reilly a forceful, cheerful confidence that contrasts with Basil’s growing panic. Basil tries to keep the botched renovation hidden from Sybil, who is away when the builders begin. The episode’s comedy comes from Basil’s evasiveness, the builders’ incompetence, and the increasingly impossible effort to restore the lobby before Sybil returns.

Kelly is sometimes confused with the other performers in the episode, including James Appleby, George Lee, and Michael Cronin. Those actors played other roles, but O’Reilly is specifically credited to Kelly. Beyond Fawlty Towers, Kelly became widely known for Irish character roles in film and television, including the 1969 film The Italian Job.