Fawlty Towers was a British
sitcom that originally aired 1975 and 1979, it was composed of 12 episodes. The series was written by
Monty Python member
John Cleese and his then wife
Connie Booth. It was directed by
John Howard Davies and
Bob Spiers. Each episode ran for 30 minutes.
Fawlty Towers was inspired by a certain hotel manager,
Donald Sinclair, who ran the
Gleneagles Hotel. The crew of
Monty Python Flying Circus had the
"pleasure" of staying at his hotel in 1971, when they were filming for the show. All of the members of
Monty Python opted to move to the
Imperial Hotel, except for
John Cleese. Instead, he took this time to observe Sinclair. He even took back
Connie Booth with him to show the wondefulness that was Donald Sinclair. John Cleese originally created a character similar to Sinclair for the TV show
Doctor at Large, in 1973. But in 1975, Cleese got a show just for his new character.
Fawlty Towers is a hotel run by
Basil Fawlty and his wife
Sybil Fawlty in
Torquay,
Britain. The Fawlty's marraige seems to be on rocky ground these days, if it ever was on solid ground. Basil is a rather arrogant, tightassed, and rude person, one who you would never want as a hotel manager. He is usually at odds with his wife, but Sybill usually wins in the end.
Basil Fawlty: Is something wrong?
4th German: Will you please stop talking about the war?
Basil Fawlty: Me? You started it!
4th German: We did not start it.
Basil Fawlty: Yes you did, you invaded Poland.
Sybil is normally kind, but quite unaware of the way to treat some people. She can be over talkative and sometimes rather inconsiderate. But she does seem to know how to run a hotel better than Basil does.. but who doesn't?
Polly Sherman is one of the people that works for the Fawlty's. She's mainly a waitress and isn't around except during meal times, unless the Fawlty's are going to be away. She has the hobby of drawing, and sometimes makes the mistake of leaving her sketchbook around. She's also one of the few members of the staff that gets along with Manuel.
Basil: Polly, what's that smell?
Polly: Flowers, I just got them from the garden.
Basil: Well, what are you stinking the place up with those for? What's happened to the plastic ones?
Polly: Being ironed.
Manuel is the main member of the hotel's staff. Basil had him moved from Barcelona to the United Kingdom in order for Manuel to work. The reason that Manuel was chosen, was so that Basil didn't have to pay much. Unfortunatly, Manuel's English is rather poor, so Basil and Manuel often go at odds.
Basil Fawlty: You'll have to forgive him. He's from Barcelona.
The opening sequence of Fawlty Towers showed the hotel's sign, except in one episode. The sign changed in appearance by the letters sometimes being out of place. In order of episode airing they are:
- FAWLTY TOWERS
- FAWLTY TOWER with the 'L' hanging down
- FARTY TOWER the W hangs down
- FAW TY TO ER
- WARTY TOWELS
- No sign
- FAWLTY TOWER with the 'L' hanging down
- WATERY FOWLS with a child 'fixing' it
- FLAY OTTERS
- FATTY OWLS
- FLOWERY TWATS
- FARTY TOWELS
I find this to be a wonderful example of British comedy, and should be watched by all! It follows the crazy stories of the hotel, as Basil and the rest of the staff create chaos.
Cast:
John Cleese - Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales - Sybil Fawlty
Connie Booth - Polly Sherman
Andrew Sachs - Manuel
Ballard Berkeley - Major Gowen
Gilly Flower - Miss Tibbs
Renee Roberts - Miss Gatsby
Brian Hall - Terry
Episode List:
Bibliography:
The Fawlty Towers Multimedia Page -
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/8373/index_e.htm
IMDB -
http://www.imdb.com
Welcome to Fawlty Towers -
http://blake.sunderland.ac.uk/~ba6mjo/fawlty.htm