I'm going to give you a damn good thrashing!
— Basil Fawlty, to his car
In an effort to climb another rung in the social ladder, Basil arranges a gourmet night. Unfortunately, thanks to the chef's alcoholism and inability to cook the meal on the menu, Basil must try to get hold of a finished duck platter from his restaurateur friend André. This, combined with the Fawltys' faulty car and Basil's social awkwardness leads him ever closer to a nervous breakdown.
Tropes appearing in this episode:
- Accidental Rhyme: Basil makes an impromptu rhyme to make light of the very drastic situation with his drunken chef, and that there is only one menu option available.Colonel Hall: What do you do if you don't like duck?Basil: If you don't like duck... you're rather stuck.
- The Alleged Car: Basil's Austin 1100 Countryman. When it refuses to start, Basil proceeds to scream at his car before giving it a "damn good thrashing" with a tree branch.
- All Just a Dream: Subverted. As Basil is in the middle of one of his many mental breakdowns while changing a menu, he says that perhaps today is all just a dream. Basil proceeds to bang his head on a book a few times before declaring, "No, it's not a dream; we're stuck with it!"
- Big "WHAT?!":Colonel Hall: Waitress!Polly: Yes?Colonel Hall: There's a hair in my mousse.Polly: Well don't talk too loud, everybody will want one!Colonel Hall: WHAT?!
- Bratty Half-Pint: Basil has to deal with an obnoxious little boy who complains that his chips are in the wrong shape and calls the mayonnaise puke. Basil ends up "accidentally" smacking him on the head.
- Carrying a Cake: Basil spends a good part of the episode trying to get food from a restaurant to his hotel, only to have it destroyed at the last minute. The main problem is that the cake isn't even what he ordered (duck). When he goes to pick up the replacement, one of the waiters accidentally switches it with a Bombe Surprise, which he digs through once he finds out in an attempt to somehow find the missing duck.
- Contrived Clumsiness: When Basil 'accidentally' elbows a bratty kid in the back of the head for saying that the mayonnaise looked like puke.
- Dramatic Drop: Polly seems to pick up on Basil's tendency for this, as she tells him to put down a bottle before she tells him about Kurt's inebriation.
- Fake Faint: Basil is forced to introduce a man named "Twitchen" to another man who had a facial tic. He frantically tries to get out of it, and eventually pretends to faint for a moment.
- Holding the Floor: During the very long wait for the duck, Manuel, Polly and Sybil take turns to entertain the waiting guests: Manuel by twanging a guitar, Polly by singing badly, and Sybil by telling a silly story.
- Hotel Hellion: The kid who complains that his chips are the wrong shape.
- Ignore the Disability: The short woman and her husband the Colonel, who has a prominent facial tic, which makes things awkward when Basil introduces him to Mr. and Mrs. Twitchen.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: The chef Kurt drinks bottle after bottle when Manuel rejects his advances, leaving him incapable of cooking for the venerable guests. It is hinted at that this has happened before.
- My Car Hates Me: The very pinnacle of this trope.START!! Start, you vicious BASTARD!!!
- Oblivious to Hints: Polly keeps hinting to an oblivious Basil that their gourmet chef is deeply drunk, while Basil entertains dinner guests.
- Percussive Therapy: The iconic "damn good thrashing" scene, where Basil takes out his frustrations on his broken-down car with a tree branch.
- Rock Star Parking: Basil can easily park just in front of André's restaurant, twice.
- Sneaking Snacks: Basil is constantly eating savouries, including from a pile of them on the engine of his car, when he is trying to mend it himself. In the kitchen, Sybil catches him at it, and neatly confiscates the plate with "are you at those again?".
- Spoiled Brat: That obnoxious boy who says his meal is awful just because it looks different to what he normally eats.
- Talent Double: John Cleese did not learn to drive until a year after this episode was broadcast. A double was needed to drive the car.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: So discreet it's confusing. In "Gourmet Night", Basil is asking inebriated chef Kurt how to prepare the mullet ("do we fry it? Just go 'ungh'"). We barely see Kurt's head move, the camera cuts to Sybil, while the audience howls with disgust. According to the director's DVD commentary, Kurt vomited on the plate, but The BBC wouldn't even let them show enough to properly suggest it.
- You Get What You Pay For: Basil tries to fix his car himself, instead of taking it to a professional. As a result, it breaks down in a crucial moment.
