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* [[Annoying Laugh]]: Basil compares Sybil's laugh to "somebody machine-gunning a seal".
* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: Subverted in "Communication Problems":
{{quote| '''Basil:''' ''(takes Sybil's hand)'' Seriously, Sybil, do you remember when we were first... manacled together? We used to laugh quite a lot.<br />
'''Sybil:''' ''(pully her hand away)'' Yes, but not at the same time, Basil.<br />
'''Basil:''' That's true. That was a warning, I guess. Should have spotted that, shouldn't I? }}
* [[Based on a True Story]]: The story goes that when John Cleese was still a member of [[Monty Python]], the group had gone someplace by bus, and the bus broke down in Torquay. Because they couldn't have their bus fixed that day, they had to stay at the local hotel - the Torquay Gleneagles, owned by one [[wikipedia:Donald Sinclair chr(28)hotel ownerchr(29owner)|Donald Sinclair]] - overnight. About an hour after checking in, all the Pythons except John Cleese left and ''walked'' to the next town to find another hotel. Cleese? He bought pen and paper. [[I'm a Marvel And I'm a DC|He smelled a sitcom!]]
** In particular, Basil's treatment of his US guests in "Waldorf Salad" is based on Sinclair's treatment of Terry Gilliam. The man supposedly attacked Gilliam's accent and claimed his table manners were too American.
** He also apparently threw a timetable at a guest who asked about a bus, and tossed Eric Idle's suitcase over a wall because he thought it contained a bomb (actually an alarm clock).
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* [[Bratty Half-Pint]]: Basil has to deal with an obnoxious little boy in "Gourmet Night", who complains that his chips are in the wrong shape and calls the mayonnaise puke. Basil ends up "accidentally" smacking him on the head.
* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: The hotel's health and safety report is fairly squick all the way through, but the last item in the [[Long List]] is definitely the punchline:
{{quote| '''Mr. Carnegie the Health Inspector''': "Lack of proper cleaning routines. Dirty and greasy filters. Greasy and encrusted deep fat fryer. Dirty, cracked, and stained food preparation surfaces. Dirty, cracked, and missing wall and floor tiles. Dirty, marked, and stained utensils. Dirty and greasy interior surfaces of the ventilator hood. Inadequate temperature control and storage of dangerous foodstuffs. Storage of cooked and raw meat in same trays. Storage of raw meat above confectionary, with consequent dripping of meat juices onto creme products. Refrigerator seals loose and cracked, icebox undefrosted, and refrigerator overstuffed. Food handling routines suspect. Evidence of smoking in food preparation area. Dirty and grubby food handling overalls. Lack of wash hand basin -- which you gave us a verbal assurance you'd have installed at our last visit, six months ago -- and two dead pigeons in the water tank."<br />
'''Basil''': "Otherwise okay?" }}
* [[Brick Joke]]: In "The Builders", after Basil discovers the aftermath of O'Reilly's first botched job on the hotel lobby, he orders him to come straight back to the hotel to put his work right otherwise he will "insert [[Makes Sense in Context|a large garden gnome]]" in him. Later, after O'Reilly's attempt at fixing it is found to have left the hotel in imminent danger of structural failure, Basil is seen purposefully walking out the front door carrying said garden gnome.
* [[British Brevity]]: Twelve episodes. Which, of course, makes its continued popularity since 1975 all the more impressive.
* [[Brutal Honesty]]: Basil in "The Germans" due to his concussion:
{{quote| '''Basil:''' ''(to his nurse)'' My God, you're ugly, aren't you?<br />
'''Sybil:''' Basil?<br />
'''Nurse:''' I'll... I'll get the doctor.<br />
'''Basil:''' You need a plastic surgeon, dear, not a doctor. }}
* [[Bumbling Sidekick]]: Manuel.
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** In "The Kipper and the Corpse", Miss Tibbs becames hysterical when she sees the titular dead body. Basil tells Polly to slap her; she does, but Miss Tibbs faints instead of recovering.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:
{{quote| '''Sybil''': If I find out the money on that horse was yours, you know what I'll do, Basil.<br />
'''Basil''': ...you'll have to sew them back on first. }}
** Another incidence happens during "The Gourmet", where the new chef Kurt is in love with Manuel. At first, Basil assumes the chef must be French. When corrected that Kurt is in fact Greek he responds "Well that's even worse. I mean, they invented it." Incase you didn't get it, "it" is "sodomy", also known as "Greek sex" or "the Greek way".
* [[Godwin's Law]]: This trope is older than the Internet: "[[Hypocritical Humor|You ponce in here expecting to be hand-waited on hand and foot, well I'm trying to run a hotel here]]! Have you any idea of how much there is to do?! Do you ever think of that?! No, of course not: you're too busy sticking your noses into every corner, poking about for things to complain about! [[Insane Troll Logic|Well, let me tell you something: this is ''exactly'' how Nazi Germany started!"]]
** RAUS! RAUS!
{{quote| - I'd like to welcome your war, [[Berlin Wall|your wall]], ''you all''...}}
* [[Hotel Hellion]]: The kid who changes the sign.
** Also the kid who complains that his chips are the wrong shape.
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* [[Mistaken for Gay]]: Three times in one episode (The Wedding Party).
* [[My Car Hates Me]]: The very pinnacle of this trope.
{{quote| '''START!!''' ''Start'', you vicious '''BASTARD!!!'''}}
* [[No Accounting for Taste]]: Basil and Sybil, frequently bordering on [[The Masochism Tango]].
** On the DVD, Prunella Scales recalls that after reading the pilot script, she immediately asked Cleese why Basil and Sybil got married in the first place. In "Basil the Rat", Sybil says that none of her friends understand how did they ever get together. "Black magic," my mother says.
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* [[Refuge in Audacity]]
* [[Running Gag]]: In 'A Touch of Class':
{{quote| "A gin and orange, a lemon squash, and a scotch and water!"}}
* [[Sarcastic Confession]]:
{{quote| "You're very cheerful this morning, Mr. Fawlty!"<br />
"Yes, well, one of the guests has just died!"<br />
"You are wicked!" }}
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Mr. Hutchinson in "The Hotel Inspectors":
{{quote| '''Mr Hutchinson''': This afternoon I have to visit the town for sundry purposes which would be of no interest to you I am quite sure, but nevertheless shall require your aid in getting for me some sort of transport, some hired vehicle that is, to get me to my first port of call.<br />
'''Basil''': Are you all right? }}
* [[Sexless Marriage]]: The one between Basil and Sybil, probably. They sleep in separate beds, and once, when he kisses her on the cheek (to throw her off), she tells him not to. In "The Psychiatrist", Basil claims that they [[Unusual Euphemism|"go for a walk"]] together two or three times per week, but he's probably lying.
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* [[The European Carry All]]: In "Basil the Rat", where Manuel buys a rat from a pet shop under the premise that it is "a Siberian hamster."
* [[This Is Sparta]]: In "Communication Problems"
{{quote| '''Mrs Richards:''' ''(Counting money)'' "It's ten pounds short."<br />
'''Basil:''' ''(Rather annoyed, having just seen £75 slip through his fingers)'' '''It's not! TEN POUNDS SHORT! Oh, My God! Don't panic! We'll have a whip 'round!'''<br />
''Starts shaking out the charity collection tin'' }}
* [[Trans Atlantic Equivalent]]: The US's ''Amandas By The Sea'' (Bea Arthur as John Cleese) and ''Payne'' (John Larraquette as John Cleese). Neither lasted longer than the typical British series.
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* [[Vomit Discretion Shot]]. In the episode "Gourmet Night".
* [[Who's on First?]]: In "Communication Problems":
{{quote| '''Mrs. Richards''': Now, I've reserved a very quiet room, with a bath and a sea view. I specifically asked for a sea view in my written confirmation, so please be sure I have it.<br />
'''Manuel''': "¿''Qué''?"<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': "K"?<br />
'''Manuel''': Si.<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': "K.C."?<br />
'''Manuel''': No. "''Qué''": "what".<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': K. Watt?<br />
'''Manuel''': Si. "¿''Qué''?": "what".<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': C. K. Watt?? Who ''is'' C.K. Watt? Is he the manager?<br />
'''Manuel''': Ah! Manager! Mr. Fawlty!<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': What?<br />
'''Manuel''': Fawlty!<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': You silly little man, what are you talking about?! (to Polly) [This man is telling me] the manager is a Mr. C. K. Watt, age forty.<br />
'''Manuel''': No, no, ''Fawlty''.<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': Faulty? Why? What's wrong with him?<br />
'''Polly''': It's all right, Mrs. Richards, he's from Barcelona.<br />
'''Mrs. Richards''': The manager's from Barcelona? }}
* [[Visible Boom Mic]]: "The Psychiatrist"
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