When the TOADS Theatre Company decided to stage a further three episodes of Fawlty Towers for the first fortnight in August, it was in the knowledge that the previous year’s selection broke all box office records for Torquay’s Little Theatre. Playing to full houses for two weeks is not something many amateur companies get to taste in South Devon and it should come as no surprise that all of the core cast from the previous year were willing to step out for another bite of life in the popular Torquay hotel under the direction of Stephanie Austin.

Reviewing Hi-de-Hi at Teignmouth last month I set out my stall when it comes to TV adaptations in the theatre, but the joy of Fawlty Towers is that these scripts are not adaptations at all, these are the scripts by John Cleese and Connie Booth as broadcast on television. Of course, the usual rules apply, why would I want to watch these episodes live when I can pull out a DVD and see the real deal? – but having missed last year’s sell out, it would be churlish not to find out what got everyone talking in 2010.

And so come ‘The Builders’, ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ and after an interval ‘The Germans’ – three episodes, each faithfully staged on one of the most impressive sets I have seen in the Little Theatre. To get a lobby, dining room, bar and office, as well as an upstairs bedroom, onto a stage that size was no mean exercise, yet Martin Austin’s design captures the TV sets perfectly. For ‘The Builders’ the backstage crew should be proud of the seamless changes as O’Reilly’s men block up two doors and hang some new doors twice in 25 minutes.

Knowing that it looks and sounds like Fawlty Towers is more than half the battle, but in that core cast previously mentioned, Nigel Howells and Adele Reynolds show off an amazing ability to mimic the iconic characters of Basil and Sybil Fawlty. With voices and mannerisms expertly captured, they head up a cast where everything revolves around the unstoppable energy of Howells. Rather than creating characters from scratch, we see here a group of actors studying and recreating performances from the screen, and the audience appreciated everything they were given.

Well worth highlighting from ‘The Hotel Inspectors’ is Paul Hedge’s role as Hutchinson, originally played by Bernard Cribbins, again capturing the spirit of this character without putting a foot wrong. But whether it’s Mary Howells’ Polly poking her tongue out at Basil, or David Hants’ Manuel, always cowering through fear of the next slap, it can easily be said that they were all spot on.

The audience enjoyed jokes about going on holiday to Paignton (perish the thought!) or recommending the Gleneagles (well, it did inspire the show!) but with near 250 people in the house, some gags were buried under the enthusiastic laughter, whilst others were lost because some supporting actors weren’t used to having to project to the back wall to be heard. Also vulnerable were the scenes that took place in the upstairs room, which were only funny because the material was familiar enough to know what was happening and not because the delivery could be heard. Perhaps from the first floor the sound travels up the church tower rather than out into the auditorium. Note to self: book earlier next year to be able to hear what’s going on.

As an exercise in recreating one of the most popular TV comedies of all time this company made it look easy and the reaction of a enthusiastic audience proves the production was a success.

In a production so close to perfect it seems a shame to have to grumble at all, but I do question the judgement of performing ‘The Germans’ without making cuts. Whilst the material with the moose was brilliantly realised and the set piece with the fire alarm is one of the funniest things I have seen – I wonder to what extent there is a place for 1970s racism on the 21st Century stage. Nothing against the actors, who recreate the scenes faithfully, but the jokes are now inappropriate and unpleasant. They may have been clever wordplay and slapstick in their day, but I have not come to see a snapshot of 1970s TV dramatised as a cultural curiosity, I’ve come to a comedy to laugh.

I appreciate the director’s note in the programme suggesting that the audience would be disappointed if they didn’t get every line, but I believe those same people should be disappointed rather than encouraged to enjoy a few vile lines of bigotry. Whilst there is a suggestion that the BBC would prohibit the material being changed, I’m left wondering what they would say if they were approached with a few choice cuts. Given that the doctor on stage was white, and the televised reaction to a black doctor was cut, perhaps those changes aren’t as difficult as first thought.

So, my verdict on the whole was that this was a work of genius beautifully staged, but I wished I had left at the interval and given ‘The Germans’ a miss.

For more information visit: www.toadstheatre.co.uk

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