The local health inspector issues a long list of hygienic aberrations the staff must immediately sort out, or else the hotel will face closure. After Manuel's pet rat escapes from his cage and runs loose in the hotel, the staff must catch it before the inspector finds it. At the same time, they must try to discern which veal cutlets are safe to eat after one covered in rat poison gets mixed up with the others and almost every subsequent guest orders veal.
Tropes appearing in this episode:
- Absent Animal Companion: Not Manuel's pet rat which was unknown to Basil and Sybil until this episode, but the unnamed black cat, which appears to live in the kitchen, and wanders in and out, as if it has always been there.
- Acquired Error at the Printer: Basil tries to invoke this trope while trying to cover up why veal is off the menu, in front of the health inspector. He tells a guest that "veal" is a misprint, and it should say, er, "eel".
- Actor Allusion: Basil lists several cheeses for the health inspector to choose from just like in the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch, The Cheese Shop.
- All for Nothing: As always with this show, all of Basil the Human's frantic scrambling and scheming to keep the health inspector from finding out about Basil the Rat come to naught, as the latter turns up in the biscuit tin which gets presented to the inspector at mealtime.
- And Another Thing...: In "Basil the Rat", Mr Carnegie makes a closing comment to Basil, echoing Basil introducing him to Sybil as a gourmet scavenger:Mr Carnegie: The only gourmets you'll find scavenging in this kitchen will be kamikaze ones.
- Antagonist Title: After a fashion: in a case of Bait-and-Switch, those who have not seen the episode would expect "Basil" to be Basil Fawlty, rather than Manuel's rat.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: "He's from Barcelona" is Basil's catch-all way of explaining Manuel's shortcomings. In the final episode, it's Sybil who says it.
- 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: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 confectionery, 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."Basil: "Otherwise okay?" - Censorship by Spelling: Sybil says they might have to put Manuel's rat 'to S-L-E-E-P,' to which Manuel responds, 'Spleep?'
- Copycat Mockery: Basil imitates Polly saying she'll take Manuel's rat to her friend, saying "Oh, I've got a friend who'll look after him, Mr Fawlty!" in a high voice.
- The question of how Basil and Sybil got together, and why they opened a hotel is briefly alluded to. Sybil says that her mother says it's black magic how they got together. Later, when Basil tries to talk Manuel out of being depressed, Sybil hints at depression being Basil's reason for opening a hotel.Basil: (Gravely) Manuel, my wife informs me that you are depressed. Well, let me tell you, depression is a very bad thing. It's like a virus. If you don't stamp on it, it spreads throughout the mind, and one day you wake up, and you can't face life any more.Sybil: And then you open a hotel.
- Faint in Shock: The stress of the whole situation finally causes Basil to keel over. Manuel drags him from the dining room as the episode (and series) ends.
- Heroic BSoD: He's not really heroic or villainous, but the inspector suffers a version of this during his meal when he is offered a selection of biscuits.. and a live rat.
- Informed Species: Played with. Manuel thinks that a rat is a hamster, but has been misinformed.
- The Inspector Is Coming: The episode features a surprise visit from the health inspector; Basil initially does not recognise him and thinks he is sniffing the raw meat in the fridge because he is a scavenger.
- Literal-Minded: After hearing the hotel’s ratatouille is called basil because the herb is used as an ingredient, Manuel thinks the chef is using his pet as an ingredient.
- Missed Him by That Much: Manuel hides the rat in the biscuit tin, then loses track of both, with the tin getting passed around the dining room behind his back as he frantically searches for it.
- Less Embarrassing Term: Manuel buys a rat from a pet shop under the premise that it is "a Siberian hamster".
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: At one point, Manuel complains, "It's not a rat, it's a hamster" in perfect English.
- Smack on the Back: Basil claps Manuel on the back when trying to cheer him up. As Manuel is used to being slapped around regularly, he does not take it well.Manuel: Don't hit me! Always you hit me.
- Stereo Fibbing: Basil tries to justify to two customers why another customer had just been given veal when Basil has just said that the veal is off. He claims that the veal is "veal substitute".Basil: It got held up in the boat on the way over from...
Polly: Japan.
Basil: Norway. It's a sort of Japo-Scandinavian imitation of the veal substitute, and I'm afraid that's the last slice anyway. - We Named the Monkey "Jack": Manuel names his pet "hamster" (actually, a rat) Basil.
