Basil Fawlty, a fire drill and Manuel: 'Fire at Fawlty Towers!' warms BBC Comedy Greats
The five-day-old clip has passed 220,000 views, and its comments keep circling back to poor Manuel and a locked door.
BBC Comedy Greats
Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
Fire at Fawlty Towers!
"Fire at Fawlty Towers!" is the clip of the week on BBC Comedy Greats, the BBC Studios channel that keeps Britain's best-loved sitcoms in circulation. It comes from the episode "The Germans", where John Cleese's Basil runs a fire drill that goes wrong in every way a fire drill can, and then a real fire turns up.
The comment section reads like a cast list. Manuel gets most of the attention, from viewers pointing at the smoke coming off him to the ones simply calling him the best of all. A well-liked comment recalls that Andrew Sachs was hurt by the special effect in that scene, which sends the replies off to compare notes. Others are still laughing at Basil locking the door, and at two ladies nearly losing their hats when he finally shouts the word.
The rest of the week was a tour of the archive: Hyacinth Bucket throwing an autumn cocktail soirée, a Blackadder Goes Forth best-of, a Series 4 sampler of 'Allo 'Allo! and a non-stop live stream of Absolutely Fabulous with Edina and Patsy. The newest upload is moving fastest. "Bernard the middleman" from Yes, Prime Minister, with Bernard caught between Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey, picked up its first 13,000 views in about eleven hours. And Hyacinth has not left the stage: "Keeping up with Hyacinth's lies", ten days old, is past half a million views and still drawing a crowd.
The channel ran a little above its usual daily pace, at more than four million views for the week. Among TV and streaming channels of its size that put it third, behind The Big Bang Theory and Prime Video AU & NZ, while Dexter Official had a livelier week than usual.
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What viewers say
Apparently he was burned by the special effect in this scene poor old Andrew.
@johnrider5701See it on YouTubeFa fa fa fa fa fa fa fire as he screams fire the two ladies almost lose their hats 😂😂😂😂
@JeffreyBelknap-q5qSee it on YouTubeSmoke coming off Manuel.. NO FIRE ONLY DRILL
@Chlorine-128See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on BBC Comedy Greats right now
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Bernard the middleman | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats13,087 views · 2026-10-03
Best of Blackadder Series 4 | Blackadder | BBC Comedy Greats12,711 views · 2026-09-27
Say Hello to 'Allo 'Allo Series 4! | 'Allo 'Allo | BBC Comedy Greats10,970 views · 2026-09-30
Keeping up with Hyacinth's lies553,161 views
- Channel
- BBC Comedy Greats
- Subscribers
- 986,000 ▲ 3,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 4,243,173
- Videos published this week
- 10
- Video published
- September 29, 2026
- Video views so far
- 224,365
- Views on its first day
- 41,074
The numbers
Here is how BBC Comedy Greats' week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which actress co-wrote Fawlty Towers with John Cleese and played Polly?
Connie Booth wrote both series of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese and played the waitress Polly Sherman.