Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)

Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.

Stars:

John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Connie Booth	...	Polly Sherman (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Agatha Tibbs (11 episodes, 1975-1979)
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby (11 episodes, 1975-1979)
Brian Hall	...	Terry (6 episodes, 1979)

Storyline

Inept and manic English hotel owner and manager, Basil Fawlty, isn't cut out for his job. He's intolerant, rude and paranoid. All hell frequently breaks loose as Basil tries to run the hotel, constantly under verbal (and sometime physical) attack from his unhelpful wife Sybil, and hindered by the incompetent, but easy target, Manuel; their Spanish waiter.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | english | guest | manic | waiter | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

19 September 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Grande Barraca

Filming Locations:

294 Preston Road, Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the original run of the series, Richard Ingrams - then editor of "Private Eye" - wrote a scathing review of the programme. John Cleese had known Ingrams for many years and was also a friend of the magazine's proprietor, Peter Cook, and so took great exception to the review. Cleese's revenge was to write in a character called Mr Ingrams into a later episode, a guest whom Basil discovers blowing up an inflatable sex doll.

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Goofs

The layout of the hotel from interior shots would place the windowless kitchen hard against the front left of the building, as seem from the outside (if there were space for it at all). In exterior shots there is a large bow window here.

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Quotes

Basil Fawlty: Polly, what's that smell?
Polly: Flowers, I just got them from the garden.
Basil Fawlty: Well, what are you stinking the place up with those for? What's happened to the plastic ones?
Polly: Being ironed.

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Crazy Credits

In the titles sequence of each episode, some of the letters on the Fawlty Towers sign are usually mixed up or missing altogether. The signs appear as follows: 1. Fawlty Towers 2. Fawlty Tower 3. Fawty Tower 4. Fawty Toer 5. Warty Towels 6. NO SIGN 7. Fawlty Tower 8. Watery Fowls 9. Flay Otters 10. Fatty Owls 11. Flowery Twats 12. Farty Towels

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Connections

Referenced in Very Important Pennis: Very Important Pennis: Part 2 (1996)

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Soundtracks

"Fawlty Towers"
Written by Dennis Wilson
Performed by Dennis Wilson Quartet

User Reviews

This is what comedy is all about!

This is pure comedy. It is genius. It is hilarity that transcends the boundary of comedy. Fawlty Towers is the kind of comedy that has you on the floor gasping for air in a puddle of your own tears. John Cleese has created one of the defining characters of comedy in Basil Fawlty. Manuel Sachs is superb as Manuel, the confused waiter from Barcelona. Prunella Scales is brilliant as the tyrannical wife. Connie Booth is very good as Polly, the hassled waitress. Put it all together inside a small hotel in Torquay and you get one of the greatest, most alluring comedies ever to grace the screen. The only bad thing about Fawlty Towers is that they didn't make more.

Fawlty Towers will always be tearfully, heart stoppingly, deadly, and disasterously funny.