What is it about October and anniversaries?

Monty Python’s 40th anniversary was this month, as was Saturday Night Live’s 35th anniversary, and now we have the 30th anniversary of the end of what some consider the all time best British sitcom, Fawlty Towers.

If you have never heard of this series, you are really missing out.  In 1975 John Cleese of Monty Python fame, and his then wife, Connie Booth, wrote a series about a poorly managed sea-side hotel in Torquay.  The series revolved around Basil Fawlty, played by Cleese, and his inept attempts at running a high-end hotel.  Beyond his own shortcomings, he is also hampered by his over bearing wife, Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales), Polly (Connie Booth) the maid that dreams of a better life and Manuel (Andrew Sachs) the bell hop/waiter from Spain who speaks very little English.

The second season didn’t appear until 1979, a full four years after the first, and it ended up being the last, ending on Oct. 25th, 1979.

Although the series only ran for 12 episodes, it has not stopped numerous attempts being made at launching a version in the United States, and all of them have failed in disaster: Two of them never made it past pilot, and the third, named Payne, did make it to air, but was quickly canceled.

So, why mark the end of the series as opposed to its launch?  Well, I got an email from the BBC America PR department informing me of the new DVD set coming out today for the series that has been digitally remastered, features commentary tracks from Mr. Cleese on every episode, new interviews with John Cleese, Connie Booth, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, outtakes and more.  Basically it sounds like a killer set, and even though I already own the set, I am tempted to buy it just for the Cleese commentary tracks.

If you haven’t ever treated yourself to this gem of a series, now seems like a better time than ever.

With all of that being said … why should you go out and buy a copy of the DVD set when I can just give you one?  Yes, that’s right folks, the kind folks over at the BBC have teamed up with me to give away not just one of these fantastic sets, but TWO!  (You can only win one … stop being greedy!  Someone else gets the second one!)  These sets have a suggested retail price of $49.98, but you can get one completely free courtesy of SeanPAune.com and the BBC!

So, how do you win one of these sets?  Well, it’s a two step process, but fun!

Step 1

Make a video of yourself reenacting your favorite Basil Fawlty moment from the series.  Beat on a car with a tree branch … tell people not to mention the war … hang a moose head on the wall, if Basil did it in the series, you can reenact it!  (It is not required to dress like Basil, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt either)

Then post the video to YouTube with the following in the info section:

Entry for the SeanPAune.com and BBC America Fawlty Towers DVD set giveaway

And make sure to tag them with SeanPAune.com, BBC America and Fawlty Towers.

Step 2

Come back to this post and leave a comment with a link to your video so everyone can enjoy it.  I will also create a playlist with all of the videos so everyone can easily browse them.

I will choose the two best videos posted by 11:59 PM CST on Friday Nov. 6th and will then contact the winners for their mailing addresses  shortly after that.  I will also post the winning videos on this site to share with more of the world.

The Small Print

Contest is limited to residents of the United States and its territories.  Only one entry per person.  Void where prohibited by law.  Have fun!

Want in on even more Fawlty Towers fun?  Join the Facebook Fan Page for the series, or follow them on Twitter @FawltyTowersDVD for the latest news surrounding the 30th Anniversary where you can use the #fawltytowers hashtag.  And if you just can’t wait, and need to have the DVD set immediately, you can always head over to the BBC America Shop and purchase one, but where’s the fun in getting one of these sets the same way anyone else can?

THIS CONTEST IS OVER